Awake Me From My Nightmare
by Dlbn
Summary: Seimei's sinister new plan possesses Septimal Moon's waking hours just as easily as it overtakes their dream scapes. *Halloween fic*
1. Enter Nightmare

Dlbn: Its almost Halloween again! The plot requires so much that a one-two shot isn't really plausible, so I'm going to update as frequently as I can until the finale on Halloween.

Nbld: If we even have time. Vow renewal for my sisters in the morning/day and trick or treating with my son, boyfriend, best friend, and sisters at night. One way or another, we'll find time to conclude on time.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Nightmare. Everything canon belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off this.

000

A private-feeling café in the dead center of Kyoto wasn't the best meeting place, but it was so obvious, that most people wouldn't give it a second glance as being an option. That's what made it the perfect spot for meetings that were better off kept in the dark. Aoyagi Seimei sat in a dimly lit back corner of the café with his fighter Nisei and partner-in-crime, Chouma. The curly haired raven wore sunglasses to obscure his eyes, making him more suspicious because he was in a dark corner of a café in the daytime. The Fighter was clicking away at a laptop, attempting to use a black-market style online chat room to keep in contact with the people the trio was waiting for. The greenette was tapping her long, painted nails against the table, wearing an expression of utter boredom. She stretched out her long legs and her back until she heard a satisfying pop, but even that moment of distraction wasn't enough.

"When are they gonna get here, Akame? Did anyone answer you yet?" She wondered.

"About ten minutes out." Nisei replied, mouse clicking across the screen faster than Seimei's black covered eyes could follow.

"What in the world are you doing?" He wondered.

"Just some side work; don't worry about it."

Seimei cocked an eyebrow. "Side work?" He questioned. "Why would your attention be anywhere but here?" He used a gloved hand to turn the other's chin so they were eye to eye.

Nisei swallowed hard, fingers never stopping on the keyboard. "How do you think I afford all the tech that makes your schemes possible, Seimei? I need the money."

"Ninety percent of it goes to gaming and other shit." Chouma pointed out.

Nisei glared. His attention turned towards the door as he sensed another Unit close by.

"They're here." He informed the others.

Seimei let go of the only Fighter in the group and brushed off his gloves as the door opened. In walked a young man with spiky red hair and bright yellow eyes, and a young woman with dark black hair and matching eyes. The four eerie yellow orbs fixated on the trio in the back as the girl nudged her companion and nodded towards them. Though the three knew he wasn't a threat, something in their eyes made Nisei shudder and Seimei swallow harshly. It was unlike either of the Beloved duo to be frightened of anyone, let alone another Unit, but both quickly hid their fears by putting on their best _I'm not intimidated_ looks as Nisei went back to working on his laptop and Chouma cocked an eyebrow. The other Unit was always fascinating to her. While she adamantly claimed that she and Seimei were a lot alike and he insisted the opposite was true, it was obvious to more than a few people that they possessed many common traits and even their viewpoint on the rest of the world. She blinked a second time and the duo were suddenly right at the side of the table, just staring at the trio as if waiting for an invitation.

"Ah, Nightmare, I believe." Seimei spoke first, standing. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you." They spoke as one, taking seats across from the others.

Chouma inched her chair a little closer to Seimei's as he sat down as well.

"Why did you call us here?" The male's voice was almost monotone.

"I have a proposition for you." Seimei offered. "We are short on time, so I will be blunt. We have a common enemy. Septimal Moon."

"And your point?" The woman asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Her voice had a bit of an upwards inflection indicative of a question, unlike her companion.

"I want to make them suffer." Seimei stated as if he was deciding what he wanted off the menu for dinner.

"Everyone knows of your troubles with Septimal Moon, Beloved." The girl informed.

"Don't you think that any harm coming to them will traced back directly to you?" He asked.

"Or one of your allies."

"Or _us_." They spoke as one.

"I know your power. You don't think I've done my research? You specialize in psychological warfare, do you not?" Seimei wondered.

"In battle, yes." The boy confirmed.

"But we're not foolish enough to attack Septimal Moon head on."

"Too obvious."

"Easy to trace back."

"Our power is limited to face to face interactions, Beloved." Speaking as one.

"You cause things to happen." Nisei added for Seimei. "I've seen some of your work…Units driven to near insanity by the visions you leave behind once your battle is finished."

The Unit looked at him as one, making the teen shiver. Their movements were timed a little _too_ well.

"Your point, Fighter?" The girl cocked an eyebrow.

"I also know that you don't just cause those things in battle…you can use spells on the outside to have the same effect."

"Revenge is best served cold." Chouma observed, looking away when the twins turned to look at her. "Can you not be so synchronized? It's like I'm dealing with the twins from _The Shining_ …"

Seimei cleared his throat, obviously a little embarrassed by his companions' lack of bravado. Considering what they planned on doing as their end game, he'd need people who weren't going to falter under pressure; let alone the stares of two slightly eerie-yes, he'd admit it-Unit members.

"All I need you to do is cast a spell." Seimei stated. "We know you've done it before."

"Under contract perhaps." The boy stated.

"Are you proposing a contract yourself?" The girl asked.

"We don't do this kind of thing for free."

"Even you aren't immune from our cost."

"So what are you offering us, Aoyagi-kun?" They asked together, cocking their heads to the left.

Seimei nodded towards Nisei. The ravenette put up a finger and finished typing on the computer before he turned it to show the Unit what their offer was. The two stared at one another, bond shimmering as they communicated. Just when it felt like they weren't going to take the offer, they nodded.

"You have a deal." They agreed. "But we require up-front payment."

Nisei didn't say anything, just pulled a white envelope from his inner coat pocket and handed it to the twins. The boy grabbed it and opened it, counting while the girl stared at them.

"You just want some nightmares?" She wondered.

"With after effects, of course." Seimei nodded.

"This will affect all members of Septimal Moon…?"

"Hai. Preferably."

"We can do it." The boy announced, handing the girl the money to count again. "A personalized spell targeting Septimal Moon."

"A little revenge from the outside." She confirmed the money was right with a nod and a shove of the white packet into her jacket pocket.

"Don't go gentle, either." Seimei stated.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Beloved-kun." They stood as one and bowed. "We look forward to serving you."

The trio watched as they left. Chouma let out a shuddering sigh. "Well, _that_ was the scariest thing I've seen in a good long while." She complained. "I vote getting the hell out of here and having some real fun."

"I have work to do." Nisei snapped his laptop closed and stood before anyone could object. "Are you done with me today, Seimei?"

His Sacrifice nodded and hummed approval. "You're free to go."

Nisei stood.

"You, Seimei?" Chouma wondered.

"I'm going home to rest…I've been in public long enough for the day." Seimei answered.

"I'll walk you home first, the." Nisei offered, though he knew the order was hidden in Seimei's word somewhere so his offer was more of an acknowledgement.

"So I'm the only one not being a wet blanket here, okay." She stood with a huff. "I just hope you know what you're _fucking_ doing, Seimei. In case you forgot, we used to be Septimal Moon, too."

The Unit watched her leave.

"We'll be fine." Seimei snorted. "We're not Septimal Moon anymore."

"I just hope their spell realizes that." Nisei muttered.

Seimei didn't dignify the other with a response as they left the café together.


	2. Minami Ritsu

Dlbn: Welcome to chapter two! Time to get the ball rolling with Minami Ritsu.

Nbld: There's no particular order for these chapters, just whatever came to me first for an idea. I'm trying to keep to the order of my pre-fic notes, though.

Dlbn: Every chapter will cross with the previous chapter at some point, leading up to a bigger picture in the end.

Nbld: Picture it like a story that you see a bunch of different sides to so that you get the entire story. Let's get on with the Review Corner! Thank you to The DarkCat for reviewing! Candy for you!

The DarkCat: Glad I did! Halloween is my favorite holiday and I figured I'd go with another spook-fest this year. I'd like to think of them as the twins from The Shining, just not twins. Oops, I didn't notice that! I'll have to get back and fix it. Seimei has nothing better to do with his free time than cause Septimal Moon trouble for revenge. This is just another one of his never-ending schemes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Everyone in this chapter is canon to Loveless aside from a few background characters. I make NO money off writing this. Everything canon belongs to Yun Kouga.

Inspiration: Inspiration came from the ending of last chapter of a fanfic on here called _Before the Dawn_ by The DarkCat, which I can't find anymore (sad face)

000

 __He'd like to say that a note from Soubi-kun asking him to meet up off school grounds was a good thing. But there was an undeniable chill down his spine as he got ready to leave, which only grew worse the closer he got to the designated meeting spot at a gazebo in a secluded part of the local park. Soubi-kun hated him and resented him for his past, or so he claimed, so why the sudden change of heart? The memory of the younger Aoyagi calling him panicking because Soubi had left him for his older brother flashed through his mind and disappeared as quickly as it came. Had Soubi somehow escaped the elder brother and was looking for help? But why Ritsu of all people? He could easily just hop a train back to Tokyo, back to his precious Ritsuka-kun, and hide away somewhere that Seimei would probably overlook; thinking Soubi couldn't possibly be stupid enough to hide somewhere so obvious. But instead, he decided to turn to a teacher, a man, he claimed to hate with every fiber of his being?

Even as he stood in the gazebo and waited for the blonde to appear, every fiber of his being was urging him to run. But Soubi couldn't, wouldn't, possibly hurt him, right? He was just being overly cautious since Seimei had broken into the school and wounded him a couple years ago. Thanks to a _very_ experimental transplant surgery by Septimal Moon member Kunugi, he was able to see again. He heard footsteps and turned towards the sound.

Soubi was coming up one of the pathways, head down. His long purple coat, the one Ritsu always hated but let him wear anyway, blew in the wind around him as he walked. When he looked up, even from the distance, Ritsu could tell that there was something in his eyes that was silently urging his sensei to run, warning him of some kind of danger he was about to face. Ritsu attributed it to him being paranoid again and offered the blonde a lazy smile.

"Soubi-kun." He greeted.

Soubi stopped suddenly, staring up at him. "Sensei…" He muttered.

Ritsu walked down the gazebo steps. "What's wrong?" He wondered. "Are you alright…?"

The silverette reached towards is former pupil, only for him to pull away like Ritsu was suddenly disgusting.

"Why do you behave this way? Moping again?" Ritsu huffed. "You always were a difficult child…"

"Perhaps you were just a difficult parent." A voice informed from behind him.

Ritsu froze. That cold voice barely hid traces of malice made his skin crawl. He took a step back as the person behind Soubi revealed himself. The blonde stepped to the side so that the little cretin, Aoyagi _fucking_ Seimei, could take his place in front of him. Soubi's eyes fell to the ground as if looking up would earn him Seimei's wrath. It probably would have, knowing the sadistic ravenette.

"Seimei…" Ritsu tried not to show his fear. "I should have known you were behind this."

"Yet you came, hoping to be alone with your precious little boy-toy, hm?"

Soubi's feet shuffled uncomfortably, as if he wanted to protest such a phrase but didn't have it in him to do so. Being with Seimei for three years probably ripped any lasting free will he had out of him. How Ritsuka hadn't just grown some balls and come to find the blonde like he claimed he wanted to was beyond Ritsu.

"I thought he could have needed assistance…with you as a master, it wouldn't surprise me."

Seimei cocked his head to the side and gave a Cheshire cat grin. "I don't know what you're talking about, _sensei_. I treat my Fighter perfectly well, thank you. Don't I, Soubi…?"

The blonde nodded, muttering a rather quiet agreement. For once, Seimei didn't seem to care that the blonde hadn't answered him loudly and clearly. He had to have some agenda here and wasn't worried about the details.

"What do you want, Aoyagi?" Ritsu folded his arms over his chest.

"Just…hoping to clear up some confusion." Seimei informed. "I thought the last time we saw you, that I was clear. My brother is _off limits_ to Septimal Moon…but it appears as though you've bene recruiting him."

"He came to us for sanctuary." Ritsu informed. "Safety could no longer be provided without Soubi-kun to take care of the monsters." He nodded his head towards the blonde. "You screwed yourself on that one, Seimei. If you hadn't left your brother alone and defenseless, he wouldn't have run to me." Ritsu spread his arms, knowing the look on Seimei's face meant that he'd ripped right into him. "The one thing you wanted to prevent, you caused. Ritsuka-kun plans on fully joining us after graduation. Was even thinking of naming him my successor. I need one, you know."

He ignored the surprised look on Soubi's face. Ritsuka' rightful seat in Septimal Moon was seat Six, the Tester, but for Ritsu to forgo tradition and name him seat one upon his demise? That was a bold move that broke all kinds of traditions. Then again, Ritsu himself had broken a few of Septimal Moons sacred rules to get to where he was now, so he shouldn't have been too surprised. Someone would have to take Seimei's old seat, then, but who?

Seimei's eye twitched. "See, Ritsu, this is why we never got along. You always did things…without consulting me." He ripped a knife from his pocket and threw it at the headmaster.

Ritsu easily dodged it, since it took Seimei enough seconds to get the thing out of his pocket in the first place for him to realize what was coming and prepare. Seimei snarled.

"I was hoping to talk some sense into you, but it appears as if your mind is made up."

"That's right." Ritsu nodded. "What a way to keep Septimal Moon in power _and_ throw a quick jab at you and your ego as well? Two birds with one stone."

Seimei snorted. "I was afraid of this, you know." He sighed and snapped his fingers. "Soubi."

"Hai?" The blond perked up at his name, and it was the cheeriest Ritsu had seen him since he'd approached.

"You recall my order, no? What I told you to do if I couldn't convince Ritsu to leave my poor, innocent Ritsuka alone?"

"I wouldn't consider him innocent, not with everything he's been going through since you left." Ritsu snorted.

That went ignored by Seimei, though Soubi's left eyebrow did shoot up at the words.

"Hai…Seimei…" Soubi swallowed hard.

"Then do what I've asked." The teen turned on his heel. "I'm afraid this is the last time we'll meet, Ritsu-sensei." He chuckled. "It was nice doing business with you. You were a worthy opponent right up to the end."

"End…?" Ritsu's eyes flickered to Soubi, who suddenly seemed like he'd lost control of himself. "What the hell did you do…?"

Seimei just chuckled. "Au revoir, Minami Ritsu."

Ritsu just stared as the teen slinked off into the shadows and vanished with his other Fighter, who Ritsu hadn't even noticed until Seimei was at his side and he was given a flick of the other teen's wrist in greeting. Or parting. How had he not sensed him? The kid must have known how to hide his own Fighter's aura. That wasn't good. It was bad enough Seimei could hide his signature, but for his equally psychotic Fighter, who Ritsu _knew_ took no shame in the killing he'd done under Seimei's command, to be able to do so would be disastrous.

His focus went back to Soubi. The blonde was just standing there, hands in his pockets now and face turned towards the floor.

"Whatever you're going to do, Soubi-kun, don't. it's not worth it. Not for that bastard."

"I'm not doing it for Seimei." Soubi finally looked up, eyes empty and hollow as if Seimei had taken his free will away completely. "It's…to protect Ritsuka…"

Ritsu took a step back as Soubi took a step closer.

"Whatever lies he fed you to make you believe that, Soubi-kun, you know are just that; lies. Ritsuka is no less safe in my hands than he was in yours."

"I wasn't safe in your hands." Soubi reminded him. "Neither were my ears." He tugged at his own hair where years ago, a perky blonde neko ear once sat.

"I have no interest nor desire in little Aoyagi; not in that way." Ritsu shook his head. "He came to me seeking asylum from the Units you're not there to protect him from. If you want to do something for Ritsuka, go home. He needs you more than Seimei has let you believe."

Soubi shook his head. "I…have to keep my distance…for Ritsuka's sake…"

"All _lies,_ Soubi-kun. Please, believe me…"

"I believed you once…when you told me I would be yours." He slowly undid the bandages around his neck. "For years, I endured your abuse at the promise of becoming your Fighter…and yet…"

The bandages were removed, and Beloved stood out on the youngers neck. The deep wounds had scarred over long ago, but it still looked painful. Soubi had insisted he'd _wanted_ it to hurt, but Ritsu knew he just hadn't known better at the time. Seventeen or not, he was still as naïve as Ritsuka was the day they met.

"Soubi-kun…this is an order…stop this at once…disregard Seimei's order."

"I cannot."

"If I promise to leave Aoyagi out of Septimal Moon affairs…?"

"You said it yourself…he's choosing to immerse himself into this world…whether or not you want him to be a part of it, you can't stop him…I've…I've realized that…Seimei hasn't…and yet…you're the one to blame." He looked away as Ritsu found himself backed up against the back of the gazebo.

He cursed himself as he realized he'd backed himself into a corner. He wasn't certain what Seimei had had in store for him but being cornered like this with someone who was obviously too far gone to know what they were doing, it certainly spelled _doom_.

"I don't want to…" Soubi admitted, reaching for Ritsu's wrist. "I don't want to follow the order…but…" He twitched as if he'd been jolted. "I must follow my master's will…my master's word is law…you taught me that."

"I…was wrong…Soubi-kun…" Ritsu stared at the blonde who once looked like is departed mother, but that Ritsu no longer recognized. "What Seimei's done…made you and Akame do…is wrong. You can fight for…"

"My master."

"What about Ritsuka…" Ritsu grabbed Soubi's other wrist in his. "Do you want him to know what you've become? I don't know what Seimei has ordered you to do to me if I fail to give into his poorly veiled threats…but do you really want Ritsuka to know? That boy adores you…to know that you could do something cruel for Seimei just because he told him to…"

"I…must follow my master's will…Seimei is my…" A long pause. "God…"

"And Ritsuka is your lover." Ritsu announced. "As was I. don't throw away all those years, all that progress, for one order from that abusive little prick."

"Ritsu-se…"

"Soubi-kun, _listen_ to me…don't' do this."

"I don't have a choice. If I don't, his spell will take over…I'll be forced to do it…" Soubi's voice dropped low. "I'm sorry…Sensei…I did love you once…" he looked up, eyes suddenly cold. "Before I learned what a monster you were."

His hand that was holding Ritsu's wrist let go and flew to the elder's throat. Ritsu dropped his other wrist and brought both hands up to defend himself, bending and slipping under Soubi's arm.

"So, this is it…he's ordered you to kill me…has he not…?"

Soubi turned slowly, robotically. "I must…follow my master's will."

"Soubi-kun…"

"Gomen…sensei…I have to…" Light tear tracks were falling.

"You don't want to."

"I have to."

"Fight it."

"I can't."

"Soubi-kun…"

"Don't argue with me, Sensei…I don't want to fight you…but I have to."

"You can't fight a solo Sacrifice." Ritsu admonished. "That's as much of a lynching as Nagisa's first god-awful Zeroes did to you."

Soubi flinched at the memory, but that was his only response to being scolded like a child again. He stalked closer to the teacher. Ritsu knew he should run, but his legs felt rooted to the ground. The part of him that was convinced he could snap Soubi out of whatever hold Seimei's spell had on him. But it looked like Seimei had calculated that as a possibility. Like with everything, Seimei always had a failsafe. Give Soubi an order based on Ritsu's reaction, then cast a spell on him to make sure he couldn't just ignore the order. God damn it, Seimei. Little bastard.

"Soubi-kun…please…"

"You're not going to run…?" Soubi seemed confused. "He was sure you would…"

"What, no fun if I don't run away from you? I'm not a child, Soubi-kun. I'm not afraid of you…I know, deep down, you don't want to do this."

Soubi blinked.

"You're not the monster Seimei is making you into." Ritsu observed. "Don't do this."

Soubi reached towards him again, prompting Ritsu to take a step back. Soubi snorted.

"I knew you were afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid to die." Ritsu stated. "But if I perish, who's going to be left to protect Ritsuka? He's safe under my orders, my command."

"I'll protect him…"

"How? By cowering behind Seimei when he calls?" Soubi looked surprised at that. "I know what you do every time Ritsuka reaches out to you for help. Ignore his calls, block his end of the bond so he can't get through. Anything to avoid the fact that you left a twelve-year-old un-awakened boy to _die_ in exchange for his brother's abusive chains."

Soubi took a physical swing at him. "You have no right, Ritsu…you gave me to Seimei in the first place."

"An oversight, clearly!" Ritsu growled. "I should have waited…given you a worthier master…"

Soubi stared. "It's too late for things we _should_ have done." He responded. "You _should_ have taken me yourself. You _should_ have just agreed to leave Ritsuka alone…and I _should_ …

"Go home to Ritsuka…" Ritsu sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. "But you're just going to crawl back to Seimei to let him know the job was done, hoping for praise you're never going to get." He stared. "If you're going to do what he's asked, at least make it quick."

Soubi stared at him. Ritsu watched as his star pupil got close enough to kiss him. They simply stared at one another for what felt like eternity, but couldn't have been more than five minutes, before Soubi spoke.

"Permanent slumber…" He muttered gently. "Overtake my foe…" He paused. "Lead him into a peaceful…eternal slumber…"

Ritsu blinked as his eyes began to get heavy. Its didn't feel like death. Was Soubi…defying Seimei in the best way he knew how? Following an order with a spell that was barely recognizable as anything different than death.

"You…?" Ritsu muttered, letting himself fall into the blond.

Soubi gently lay him on the ground, looming over him with tears cluttering the bottom of his eyes.

"Don't speak…" Soubi muttered softly. "Just…let it happen, Sensei…"

Ritsu nodded feebly. "Can you…counter…?"

"I'm sure…Kunugi will find a way…Mirai is awake…isn't he?"

Another feeble nod. "It's getting dark…" Ritsu muttered, a hand laying against Soubi's cheek. "I'll…miss this face…"

"Sensei…when this spell takes hold…you won't miss anything at all."

Ritsu closed his eyes, breath coming in shallowly. "Good…"

"Bye…Sensei."

The world went black.

000

Ritsu sat bolt upright in bed, panting and feeling his chest to make sure he was still physically breathing. His breaths came in quick gasps as his eyes struggled to adjust to the dawn light coming in through the windows. He ran a hand through his hair, leaning his palm on his forehead.

"A…dream…?" He wondered.

Or had he just woken up from a reversal of a supposed eternal sleep? He flung the covers aside and climbed out of bed. No, if he had been in the coma that Soubi-kun had produced, he would probably be hooked up to all kinds of machines for breathing and life support. Like Mirai had been for the many years that Kunugi had fought to keep his brain functioning and stubbornly refused to let go. He ambled to his doorway, pushing the door to the main room open. It looked just as he'd left it the past morning, nothing appeared to have changed or age, not a speck of dust anywhere. He heard children laughing and running around in the court yard. He looked out one of the windows overlooking the courtyard. It was early morning, but likely around six or seven when students were just leaving their dorms for breakfast before classes began. Down near a cluster of trees, he spotted a group of three students that stood out. One had short, curly black hair, the other had straight long black hair, and the third had mid-length blonde. He blinked in confusion. They were clearly students from the uniforms they were wearing, but the group looked so similar to…no, there was no way that the three members of Beloved were just mulling around the courtyard and no one had raised the alarm. Then again, since Akame could hide his power signature and even Iyani had been able to on occasion when it really counted, who knew what else they could hide.

Ritsu threw on a robe and unlocked his dormitory door. He found himself in the old schoolhouse, unsurprisingly. He rushed down the halls, barefoot, to escape the room and go outside to validate that his eyes really _were_ seeing what they thought they were. He opened the door to the paths hidden in the trees that led to various other main areas of the school grounds. He took the path towards the courtyard and back of the main campus building. The cobblestone hurt his feet as he rushed along, but he didn't think to go back and look for his shoes. If he took too long, the trio might disappear. When he emerged on the side of the path that hit the courtyard, he pushed open the wrought-iron gate and stepped into the courtyard. Students and faculty alike stopped to stare at the odd sight, but no one seemed surprised to see him. Okay, so it _was_ just a dream. He didn't see the trio again and ran a hand through his hair.

"What?" He greeted.

Everyone went back to normal as if nothing had happened. A few female staff members giggled and whispered as they passed him. He looked down to find himself shirtless in just pajama bottoms and the flimsy robe he'd thrown on. He covered himself with the robe, tying the sash as he went red faced. The Headmaster continued through the courtyard, head held high even though he was certain his feet were leaving a blood trail on the cobblestones now. A few people passed him with regards, and a few even greeted him as they normally would.

He opened the door to the school's rear entrance and walked through as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a familiar face framed by black hair and violet eyes that stood out. He blinked in confusion as he turned to see who it was, but they were gone. As if everything that had happened so far wasn't strange enough.

Ritsu shuddered as he made his way down the hallways, catching glimpses of the same face out of the corner of his eye, turning around corners or slipping into a bathroom or classroom. He felt like he was going insane. First the dream, now he was seeing Aoyagi Seimei everywhere he went, always just long enough to know he had been there. As the first bell rang to signal that breakfast was over and it was time to start getting to class, Ritsu found himself lost in the throng of students waking up late and rushing to get out of their dorms and students returning to the main building from breakfast. He spotted Nagisa's Zeroes at the end of the hallway chatting and walked up to them.

"Boys." He greeted.

"Hey, he's up." Yoji greeted. "Nagisa said she heard you screaming all night."

"Thought you were being murdered." Natsuo giggled.

Ritsu felt a chill down his spine. Did they somehow know his dream? No, that wasn't their power.

"You haven't seen anything odd going on around here, have either of you?" He asked at last.

"Uh, I'm not sure if you know where you are." Yoji gestured around. "This entire _place_ is its own psych ward."

"No wonder Ritsuka fits in so well. His family's his own personal psych ward, too." Natsuo huffed.

Ritsu rolled his eyes. "You haven't…seen Seimei around…have you…?"

"Why would he even come here?" Natsuo wondered. "Or wander around freely?"

"I think he's losing his mind." Yoji cocked his head to the side. "Must be old age."

Ritsu blushed and left the giggling teenagers to their _old people_ jokes and quips. He didn't need this. Why did he bother asking them? It's not like they'd be honest with him, anyway.

"Oh, good morning, Sensei." A familiar voice greeted.

Ritsu turned back towards a hall he'd just passed to see Seimei standing there, arms behind his back. He was alone, neither Fighter at his side. His violet eyes sparkled with something Ritsu couldn't place, like in the dream, yet with less of a homicidal urge tinged within it. Ritsu took a step back.

"Something wrong, Sensei?" He asked. "You seem tense."

"D-Don't come closer to me, Aoyagi."

Hurt flashed across the other's face but it was quickly veiled as if it never existed in the first place.

"Why? Are you feeling okay? It's just me."

"Exactly why you should stay away. I know your Fighters must be hiding nearby, at least one of them…"

"What are you talking about? I don't _have_ a Fighter…remember…? Soubi left with Seimei…?" Seimei cocked his head to the side. "Did you hit your head? I'm a little worried about you…"

"Soubi ran off with…you…" Ritsu informed. "You're Aoyagi Seimei."

"What? Are you insane? No, I'm not." He shook his head.

"You _look_ like Aoyagi Seimei."

He scowled. "People tell me that a lot. I thought you knew not to because it's annoying?" He folded his arms across his chest. "That's annoying, and incredibly rude, Ritsu-sensei…"

The elder Sacrifice blinked in surprise. Seimei never called him Ritsu-sensei. It was always Ritsu this, or Minami that. Sometimes just sensei when he got annoyed with him enough, which was often, he had to admit. But never Ritsu-sensei. Zero called him old man Ritsu behind his back and Ritsu to his face, and his colleagues called him by name as well. Only Ritsuka and Soubi really called him that. No, this had to be another one of Seimei's dirty tricks.

"You…never call me that…"

"I always call you that. Are you _sure_ you're feeling okay? Should I go grab a nurse from the infirmary…?"

There were always at least three on staff, two to tend to current patients and one to be on call in case of any dangerous fights or other injuries.

"Are you certain _you_ are?" Ritsu blinked, shaking his head as he closed his eyes. "No, this is just another one of your mind games. I won't fall for it. What do you want? Isn't it bad enough you have to invade my dreams…?"

"You…really think I'm my brother, don't you…?" The teen sighed, hands on his hips in a way that Ritsu would describe as stolen from Aoyagi Ritsuka instead. "Seimei isn't dumb enough to set foot on this campus, and you know it. He has too much to lose, Soubi or Nisei with him or not. They fought Moonless twice and lost by a slim margin the second time. Do you really think he'd want to risk another fight when he knows now that his Fighters can't fight for him on such a large scale?"

Ritsu stared. What he was saying was making sense, but there was no way his eyes were deceiving him. No one else could be Aoyagi Seimei _except_ for Aoyagi Seimei. He knew what Ritsuka looked like, he could tell the subtle differences between the brothers where others might have only seen similarities.

"Seimei's… _you're_ too cocky to think you're going to get hurt, going to lose. You'd do anything to see this school on its knees."

"For the last time, I'm _not_ Seimei!" He stomped his foot and thrust his arms down at his sides.

The power that emanated from the teen could have been suffocating if it hadn't gone away quickly. Short bursts of energy were more akin to Ritsuka's behavior than Seimei's. after all, he'd tried to suffocate the Zeroes in the library and only stopped doing so because Ritsuka showed up and broke his concentration.

"You won't fool me…Aoyagi…I've seen you around school since I woke up, and here you are, confronting me in the halls of _my_ school." He spat the word "my" as if he intended it to hurt.

"For god's sake!" Seimei huffed, blowing hair out of his eyes.

The more they interacted, the less he seemed like Seimei. _It's a trap. It's a trap it's a trap!_ Ritsu's inner voice screamed at him to run, but he stood firmly in place. As angry as Seimei was with him at the given moment, he had yet to attack him. Despite knowing what the other was capable of, it seemed like he wasn't willing to try and cause any more damage than he already had. Maybe it wasn't…? No! Once Ritsu let his guard down, Seimei would make his move. He always took advantage of people being trusting and believing his lies too easily. Ritsu wouldn't fall victim to him again.

"I'm not Seimei. I'll prove it."

"Humor me." Ritsu muttered.

The teen sighed and began unbuttoning his coat. Once that was done, he pushed the right side of it out of the way and hoisted his shirt up. The word _Loveless_ was etched into his skin like a curse, like a birthmark. He held up his opposite hand, revealing that the name _Beloved_ didn't exist there. No matter how powerful Seimei was as a Sacrifice, neither he nor his two Fighters could erase a name. or fake one. Faking one was nearly impossible, but there it was against his flesh; as clear as the day it had first appeared and Ritsuka had come to him begging for something to relieve the pain. It was an exact replica, if Ritsu's memory served right.

"You're…not Seimei." Ritsu observed.

The teen smiled. "About time you realized that, Ritsu-sensei." He replied.

It felt like a curtain was lifted and the visage of Aoyagi Seimei was no more, replaced with the very real image of his little brother showing off his name. He seemed to realize that Ritsu was in his right mind again and yanked his shirt down to cover the name he'd become both accustomed to and ashamed of.

"What got into you?" Ritsuka wondered. "Were you sleepwalking?"

"I…I'm not certain…" Ritsu put his chin in his hand, lost in thought.

First the dream that Seimei had ordered Soubi to kill him, and now he was seeing Seimei everywhere, hallucinating enough to the point where he even thought that _Ritsuka_ was the elder of the brothers. Whatever had brought about that nightmare apparently dragged remnants of it into the waking world; plaguing his mind with visions of Aoyagi Seimei when he wasn't there.

"Ritsu…?" Ritsuka asked quietly, reducing their conversation to a more relaxed tone without the honorific he insisted on using for the sensei. "Are you okay…?"

A nightmare that existed in the waking world. That sounded so familiar. But why…?

"Aoyagi, accompany me to the old schoolhouse records building, would you? There's…something I need to look for."

"Um…okay…will it help?"

"It…yes, I think it will help."

Ritsuka buttoned up his coat as he followed Ritsu down the hall, quickly breaking into a run to catch up to the taller male.


	3. Sagan Nagisa

Dlbn: Hey, we're back! On a bit of a time crunch here with getting enough chapters out. There's six after this one.

Nbld: Expect a new chapter every other day to be on time, except for Halloween week. We'll do three days in a row including Halloween that week to finish on time. Review Corner! Thank you to Promocat and The DarkCat for reviewing! Pumpkins for you both!

Promocat: Oh no. I hope you're feeling better. I've had the flu the last two years. It's horrible. Ritsuka's ears were already played on in the manga with Bloodless, but I think there's still a few fears of his that haven't been visited yet.

The DarkCat: Long reviews are great, no need to apologize ^^ I'm ashamed of a few of my works, so I get what you mean. I really do like Before the Dawnthough. I wonder if the manga wasn't also in part over Ritsuka as well, honestly. Ritsu must have said something that pissed Seimei off enough to get him to lash out, since we know he isn't one to get his hands dirty.

It seems like the seats of Septimal Moon are hereditary, but with Soubi being a Fighter and Ritsu not having kids, he's got to have someone else take his place. What a way to piss Seimei off then to name his brother the new head of the organization he hates so much. The past always comes back to haunt us. Ritsu recalls a bit of Soubi from the past in the manga as well, most notably after he's blinded, saying he misses his pouty lips, etc. I think Seimei would do anything to reach his goal, regardless of how he has to do it.

Soubi's definitely in a place to worry about Ritsuka's wellbeing around Ritsu. Ritsuka evens seemed wary of him when they met in the manga, and that was before he knew what Ritsu did to Soubi! Seimei fed him that Ritsuka is only found by other Units because Soubi's power signature is too strong. It doesn't seem like anyone finds them by looking for Ritsuka in the manga, so for Soubi to think that Seimei is right about it, it wouldn't surprise me. Like Ritsuka says, Ritsu and Soubi talk a lot alike. They're able to jab at one another to protect their own egos. Ritsu isn't wrong, though. Soubi did leave Ritsuka, and I feel like if Ritsuka tries to contact him, Soubi won't answer and will use Seimei's orders as an excuse.

It really is a psych ward when you think of it. Everyone has problems in that place. Nagisa is an attention-seeking type, Ritsu we all know has issues, Nana is a recluse, Seimei is…Seimei, etc. I'm glad you liked them. I wasn't certain what to do for them but I'm glad I stuck with what came first. No, this wasn't annoying to go through at all. Thank you for all your input!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Everything/everyone else is canon to Loveless and thus belongs to Yun Kouga.

Dedication: To my pet mouse, Thousand Sunny. My son let her and her sisters out of the cage months ago, and I finally managed to catch her. How? She was in my trashcan when I threw something out. My son is excited to have her back, and she loves her new wheel and lookout attachments for her cage. Now to find and capture the other two!

Dedication 2: To my boyfriend, who just returned from a four day drill out of state. We missed you! Happy (slightly late) two months!

000

She only knew two things. One, that she was much younger than she remembered herself being. Had these past years been nothing but a dream, a nightmare? Two, she just _had_ to find Sanae; and fast! She hadn't seen her dear younger sister in a few hours, and that was rather rare for the inseparable Sagan sisters. Even between classes, they were side by side as Nagisa avoided everyone around her and Sanae sent longing looks towards her Sacrifice, Minami Ritsu, whenever he passed. Looks he more or less ignored, not caring much for his own Fighter. He made Nagisa sick to her stomach, but that was who her sister was paired with, so she'd have to deal with it.

The hallways of the old schoolhouse and the paths of the courtyard seemed longer than usual, even for the younger self she wasn't certain was actually her. It was wet and raining outside, and her hair was damp and dripping from the downpour she'd narrowly avoided the brunt of earlier. Sanae didn't like the rain much, probably due to her inability to swim and consequential fear of drowning. It didn't make sense for her to not be in one of their usual hang up or meetup spots. She wasn't even at the biology club they both attended. Nagisa threw open the back door to the old school house that led to Septimal Moon's private courtyards. She knew she was technically trespassing on her world's governing body's sacred ground, but any punishment she would receive was worth it to find Sanae alive and unharmed.

"Sanae!" She shouted out. "Sanae, are you out here!"

The only thing to answer her was thunder. She shuddered as she worked to muster up the courage to go back out into the rain. It didn't seem to be letting up any time soon, but she wasn't thinking about looking for an umbrella as she darted out and took cover under some sakura and cherry blossom trees. Water flew from the tips of her pigtails as she tossed her head back and forth to look for her sister. Unless she'd run into town without telling anyone, there was no way she wasn't _somewhere_ on campus. She had to have at least heard Nagisa shouting her name and running around, or at least other students would have told her what was going on, so she could find Nagisa and put her fears to bed.

"Sanae!" She shouted again, taking off to another patch of trees for a few moments while the rain stopped again.

If someone was making it rain on purpose, they'd find hell to pay when she found them. Nagisa saw a figure in the distance, near the koi pond. She squinted, hoping that the splotch of teal she was seeing was someone's shirt and not chin-length hair. She stalked closer, keeping close to the trees and cobblestone structures that gave the courtyard an otherworldly feel to it. Once she was close enough to reach out and touch the person her heart leapt into her chest. Standing about calf deep in the pond water was none other than Sanae. She wore the school's pleated white skirt and blue uniform shirt as she always did when it was a school day. Her hair was drenched, and she was shaking from the cold of the rain. She was elbow deep in the water as well, seemingly searching for something.

"It's gotta be here." She complained. "It just has to. If I don't find it, he'll never talk to me again…damn it, where did it go!"

Nagisa was taken by surprise. Sanae never swore like that. And just who was this _he_? Ritsu? What was she even looking for?

"Stupid, stupid, Sanae! Jealous Sanae." She stopped searching to stand straight and yank on her hair.

"Sanae?" Nagisa asked gently. "What are you doing?"

Sanae jumped from the shock, wobbling as she fought to steady herself. Nagisa darted forward and grabbed her by the wrist to stop her from falling.

"What are you doing here, Nagisa?" Sanae wondered.

"I should be asking you! Its pouring, you'll catch a cold! What are you looking even for that can't wait until tomorrow?"

"I…" Sanae sighed, head hanging low and teal curls obscuring her face. "I threw something in here and I have to get it back…"

"Why? Is someone looking for it?" Nagisa asked. "I can help. We can look together!"

"No…I have to find it on my own. He'll know."

"He…?" Nagisa cocked an eyebrow. "You're not talking about Ritsu, are you?" She snorted. "Why do you even care what he thinks?"

Sanae pulled from her, scowling. "He's my _Sacrifice_ , Nagisa! Of course, I care what he thinks…"

"He doesn't care about you…" Her sister's head shot up. "Why should you care about him?"

"You just don't understand because you don't have a Fighter yet, that's all." Sanae accused. "He'll come to care about me…we're a Unit…we're destined…we…"

"I don't have to be paired to know how wrong it is!" Nagisa argued. "Sanae, you've seen how other Units act towards one another. You _have_ to know that you and Ritsu…whatever your bond is, it's not like everyone else!"

"Maybe that's okay." Sanae took a step back. "Maybe I _like_ that we're different! What fun is being a copy, anyway?"

"Sanae…the way he treats you…" Nagisa made a fist and looked away. "I know you love him, but that doesn't mean you should let him treat you like he does! This is abuse! It's what we came here to _escape_! You don't want to end up like mother, do you?"

"Shut up!" Sanae ordered. "Just shut up, Nagisa, you don't get it! It's not abuse! He's just distracted by that wretched woman! And now I have to find her damn engagement ring I stole so he'll stop being so mad at me for upsetting her!" Delicate hands flew to cover Sanae's quivering lips. "I…I…"

"You stole sensei's engagement ring?" Nagisa took a step away. "Sanae…you're not that cruel! You'd never do something like that...what's gotten into you?"

"I was jealous, okay? Jealous that he'd pick some old lady over me! I'm his Fighter, I'm his soulmate! Me! Not her!" Sanae's eyes burned with a fiery rage Nagisa had only seen in her own pupils before. "And he got so mad that I stole it…so I threw it here…and he's even more mad now that I can't return it. But he can't tell her and she's _so_ sad. Looking everywhere for it, weeping when she thinks no one is watching…"

"This is wrong, Sanae, and you know it!" Nagisa pouted. "I'll help you look for it…we'll find it together."

"No! He can sense if I'm lying to him when I say I did it myself!"

"So, don't lie!"

"He won't accept it if I had help! Even if it's you."

"Who cares? He'll get over it!" Nagisa's eyes widened as Sanae continued stepping backwards and shook her head. "Sanae…its getting deeper…you can't swim…please, come back…"

"No." Sanae shook his head. "You're the one who doesn't understand, sister. It's _your_ opinion I don't care about." She laughed, madness dancing in her eyes. "I finally said it…I finally told you how I feel! You're always suffocating me, Nagisa! I can't _breathe_ with you around! But Ritsu gives me space, and _freedom_. I can breathe without him because I know he'll always be there anyway. With you, I just never know if you're going to go away!" A strange, warped giggle. "I had hoped that once we came here and we were paired, that would stop. But no, your Fighter is AWOL…so you stick to me like glue because you know my Sacrifice won't be up my backside." She glared. "So now I _still_ have to wait for _you_ to be paired with someone, so I can put all my time and effort into my bond and you can get on someone else's nerves!"

"Sanae…you're just hurt…you don't mean that." Nagisa wasn't certain when she'd started going deeper into the water after her sister, but she was almost waist deep now.

"I do mean it. I mean everything I said. I _hate_ you!" She took another step back and her face immediately fell. "Sister…"

And with that, she was gone.

"Sanae!" Nagisa cried, lunging after her sister. "Sanae, where are you? Oh my god, help! _Help_! She can't swim!"

She dove under the water and tried to see her sister. A thrashing form a few feet from her was being sucked even deeper into the pond. Nagisa popped back out of the water to take a deep breath and dive in after her sister again. The further out she swam, the further Sanae went. Flailing, falling, diving, slipping. Under the water further and further until she was no more. Blackness began to creep into Nagisa's vision, and she was forced to abandon her search to go back up for air. Once at the top, she took in deep gasping breaths.

"Help!" She shouted. "Help us! Sanae! Help Sanae!" She cried out.

She heard footsteps through the woods. A tall blonde woman burst out of the trees.

"Nagisa-chan?" She wondered, waving. "What's happening? Why are you in the pond?"

As Nagisa struggled to stay afloat, she recognized the woman as the teacher Ritsu was infatuated with, the cause of all this. "Sanae lost her footing She got sucked under…sensei, help…!"

Without thinking, Akio shed her coat and rushed into the water. Once deep enough, she launched into the water. Nagisa dove under to find Sanae again, and the sensei did the same. Nagisa pointed out the dead-still frame of her sister in the water. Her eyes bulged as sensei pointed upwards to tell her to go up. They went up at the same time, gasping in air.

"Get out of the lake. You'll freeze!"

"Lake?" Nagisa's eyes widened. "No…no, it's a pond…!"

Akio shook her head and dove under again, disappearing as Nagisa tiredly swam back to the shore. Once at the other side, almost shallow enough to stand, a hand grabbed her and hauled her to her feet. Minami Ritsu scowled as he threw Akio's jacket over the shivering school girl.

"Ritsu…?" Nagisa wondered.

"Sensei heard the shouting and came running…of course I followed…it's your sister…isn't it." Ritsu spoke almost robotically, as if he ether didn't want to be there or didn't want to show emotion regarding his Fighter.

Nagisa bit her lip and nodded as she followed him out of the pond to dry land. "She was looking for the ring…the one she threw."

Ritsu's lips pressed into a thin line. "I see…"

With the sound of a splash, both teens looked to see Akio struggling to keep Sanae a float. "Get help!" She ordered, struggling her way towards the shallow end.

Nagisa threw the blonde's coat off to the ground and rushed into the water, grabbing the sensei by the arm and giving a firm yank. Here was shouting as Ritsu led some guards back to the pond. Akio all but threw the still body onto the ground and knelt beside her, pressing on her chest.

"She's not breathing." She announced.

"Her lips are blue…" Nagisa fell on her backside. "Her lips…they match our hair…she's…she's gone…isn't she…?"

"I refuse to lose her." Akio argued, pressing her mouth to the younger girl's and breathing into it.

Guards surrounded the two and started working on CPR as well. Ritsu grabbed Nagisa by the wrist and pulled her away.

"It won't work." He spoke softly as all motion practically stopped around the duo. "Our bond…it's faded…I knew the moment Akio pulled her out…"

"No, I refuse!" Nagisa glared at him. "She'll come back…she has to…she has to apologize for what she did, what she said to me. She'll be fine…you'll see…"

Ritsu shook his head, jamming his hands into his pockets. "Don't tell sensei why she was in the pond…she'll blame herself…"

"You…all you care about is Akio…and how she feels…you don't care about Sanae at all." Nagisa gripped him roughly by the shoulders. "How can you be so cruel? She's your partner, Ritsu! Your partner!"

All sound faded as she and the bespectacled neko stared one another down. His glasses shown in the filtering sunlight and hid his eyes.

"Was."

Nagisa shook him. "Don't say that! Don't you dare say that, Minami Ritsu! Not about my sister!"

"Time of death…" A guard spoke, the world coming back into focus around Nagisa slowly. "Eleven fifty-seven am…Saturday the 8th of September…"

"No!" Nagisa argued, rushing up to them. "Don't' say that! You have to keep trying!"

Her hands went right through the guard's arm as if she hadn't tried to grab him. "Huh?"

She tried to grab him again and again, moving onto another guard when she couldn't grab the first. Her hands phased through again.

"No…" She muttered. "What's…happening to me…?" She tried another guard, and another, finally ending with Akio. "It's like I'm not here…but…how…?" She turned towards the other teen, who was watching the scene with a melancholy look on his face. He seemed reserved, as if watching from somewhere else.

"Ritsu?" She rushed to him. "Ritsu, you know I'm here. They don't, but you do! Don't you?" She leapt at him, only to fall through his body like a ghost.

Laying on her stomach for a moment, Nagisa blinked to try and get some sense of what was happening.

"Sanae…" She turned to look over her shoulder as a guard draped his coat over Sanae's body, covering her face. "Sanae…I couldn't save you…Sanae…please…don't' take my sister…don't take Sanae!"

000

The world snapped to life as Nagisa shot up in bed, screaming her sister's name. A hand went to her forehead, fingers tangling in her hair as she panted and tried to control her breath. A sleep mask was covering her eyes, and she ripped it off. A sleep mask was covering her eyes, and she ripped it off. The stuffed animals on her bed puffed up and down as she shifted around, trying to see where she was. She was in her bedroom at the old school house, wearing light-colored striped pajamas. Once her breathing regulated, she threw off her fluffy pink comforter and climbed off, slipping her feet into fluffy slippers.

"A dream…just a dream." She grabbed at her desk to make sure she wouldn't go through and sighed in relief when her fingers touched the cool mahogany. "I'm solid…I can touch things…I'm okay…but Sanae…"

A dream it may have been, but her sister's death certainly was not. She hadn't been there when they found Sanae, when they dragged her cold, blue body out of the pond. Th water hadn't been _that_ deep, but it was enough to go up to their waists at that age, and Sanae had probably panicked at some point when she realized how deep she was. Or she'd managed to find the ring with her feet and dove down to get it, risking her life for a stupid piece of metal that represented a woman that was getting in the way of herself and Ritsu, a woman she despised. Sanae was never that cruel, never that rude. Her mind was a strange thing, indeed. Nagisa went to her kitchen and fixed herself a glass of water through the filtered attachment to the tap. She took a long swig of it and continued drinking it until the cup was empty again. Once she was content that she was out of the dream, she walked to her closet and grabbed a simple, cute outfit for the day. After fixing her hair in the mirror and applying a small amount of makeup, she started to get ready to leave her room. When she passed a table in the hall, she froze. The photograph of herself and her Zero boys was still sitting there, but Yoji was gone and replaced with a bloody, yet dripping wet Sanae. She picked it up, shaking as she did so, to examine it closer. Had Yoji done this as a prank? Had Natsuo? Whichever one did, they were dead. She lay the photograph face down on the table and kept moving. In the living room, the corner cabinet that had photographs of herself and Zero, herself and Sanae, caught her eye. Curiously, she stepped closer. Yoji wasn't in a single photograph anymore and was instead replaced by the same Sanae as the first photo. Nagisa quickly opened the cabinet and turned all the photos face down until all she could see was the wooden backs of the frames. She panted, leaning on the case.

"Those kids…those kids are…so…so… _dead_!" She rushed out of her home, not even bothering to lock the door as she threw it open and shut.

Nagisa stalked through the campus to the main building, asking everyone and anyone if they'd seen Zero anywhere. Nana had provided the best insight when she said they were down by the cafeteria, though she was rubbing her temples and complaining about some buzzing that Nagisa couldn't hear. Nagisa took her friend's word and stalked towards the cafeteria.

"Zero!" She screeched. "You have a lot of…"

She froze when the boys turned to look at her. Natsuo's one eye was wide in surprise as if he didn't know what they'd done wrong. Yoji's face was frozen in a state of surprise as well, but the face wasn't him. She took a step back, clenching her chest. Not even Zero could pull that off. How…?

"It was just a dream…just a dream…" She told herself, grabbing at her head and shaking it. "This isn't possible!"

The boys rushed to hr. Yoji-Sanae grabbed her hands and pulled them from her head.

"Snap out of it, Nagisa!" She ignored that there was no honorific attached to her name. "What's wrong with you?"

"You can't…you can't be here…"

"Why can't I?" Yoji-Sanae demanded.

"No…you're dead…dead! I saw your body, I identified you! You're not here, Sanae…you can't be!" Nagisa's eyes were wild as she knocked the boy's-girl's? -hands away from her head. "Give me back my Yoji…please…"

"I'm right here, though, sensei." Yoji informed. "It's me and Natsuo. See? You see us, don't you?"

She shook her head and closed her eyes, sinking to her knees. "No…I see Natsuo and Sanae. Where's my Yoji? I want him back…please…I'll trade Sanae for Yoji…anything…please!"

The boys shared a look and knelt next to her.

"Sensei, I promise, it's me and Yoji. Sanae isn't here. She's dead, sensei, she's been dead for years. Yoji…Yoji just _looks_ like Sanae." Natsuo spoke calmly. "Remember? You made him that way…made him look like Sanae on purpose…don't you remember…?"

Nagisa's eyes opened and she stared at the dup. at last, the filthy, dreaded version of Sanae was gone. Instead was a strangely concerned, yet curious, Yoji.

"Yoji!" She cried, latching onto the mint haired teen.

"Gah!" Yoji complained as Nagisa hugged too tight. "Ya, it's me, it's me! You're choking me!"

She let go of him and he started coughing, rubbing his own throat. Natsuo rubbed his Sacrifice's back as he other glared at their sensei, their creator.

"What is wrong with you, woman?" He complained, finding his voice. "First you think I'm Sanae, then you try and strangle me? What gives!?"

"I'm…sorry…all I could see was Sanae…dripping from head to toe…covered in blood…" Nagisa shook her head and smiled sadly, tears falling in rivulets now. "But she's gone…it's you…" A hand on his cheek. "My beautiful Yoji…"

He brushed her hand away. "Stop fussing over me like I'm some little girl. It's annoying." He complained.

"You'd be a cute girl, Yoji." Natsuo tugged at his cheek, only to have his hand slapped away. "After all, you were made to look like one, remember?"

"You're a dead man, Natsuo!" Yoji growled.

Nagisa laughed quietly. "My boys…"

'Is there something in the water at the schoolhouse or something?" Yoji wondered. "First Ritsu, now you."

"Ritsu?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Ah, the screaming last night."

The boys had gone to bed around midnight, but she'd been kept up by Ritsu screaming bloody murder from his room. She'd tried to wake him by pounding on his door, but it did nothing. It was around two am hen Yoji got up to sue the bathroom and found her awake. With the teen's coaxing, she was able to get into her bed and succumb to her own need for sleep, ignoring Ritsu as best she could. It hadn't taken long for her to pass out after that.

"Is he okay?" She asked again, standing and smoothing her dress.

The boys stood as well.

"Yeah, he asked us if we saw anything strange around here, and we asked him to elaborate, and he asked if we'd seen Seimei." Natsuo shrugged. "Didn't make any sense. Why would Seimei be here?"

"That's a good question…" Nagisa rubbed her chin in thought.

Ritsu was screaming murder all night and woke up thinking Seimei was around. She dreamt of her sister's gruesome death in the pond behind the school, and woke up seeing her wet, bloody face everywhere that Yoji's was supposed to be. Perhaps they'd both had bad dreams…but why would they translate over into the waking world? Science was her forte, but dreaming was a concept she didn't understand much about, even though she'd read dream interpretation books as a child every time she had a bad or really weird dream. Nagisa's grinned, snapping her fingers.

"I'm going to go to the library and get a dream interpretation book." She announced. "There has to be some correlation between dreams and the real world. Lucid dreaming, perhaps?" She shook her head when the boys didn't answer. "Well, I'm off. You two be on your best behavior."

She brushed past them, hands behind her back, and made her way down the hallway.

"She's weird." Yoji complained.

"Really weird." Natsuo agreed.

Weird, sure, she'd let them call her that and admit it was true behind closed doors. But as weird as she felt, she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, she was onto something.


	4. Saotome Nana

Dlbn: I passed out last night before I could finish writing and post, so here we are a day late. I'll post again either later tonight or tomorrow, depending on how much I've got done of part four.

Nbld: We have five left after this one, so we gotta try to space it out evenly.

Dlbn: Though, to be technical, Day of the Dead is our second favorite holiday, so we could post up until that day, which is November 2 this year, but I really want to end it on Halloween. It's a bit of a tradition.

Nbld: Mostly depends on whether we can post tonight or not. We'll figure out that mess later. For now, Review Corner! Thank you to Promocat for reviewing! Candy sugar skulls for you!

Promocat: It really does! Seimei found a Unit that knows how to use their power to their advantage. I'd hate to make an enemy out of them.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and random nameless OC guards. Everything else belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off this. I'm too broke to make money.

000

The school was engulfed in chaos. Guards were running to and fro to find intruders and usher students into their respective dorms or otherwise safe rooms of the school. Teachers were barking orders and directions to their classes to seclude them into a corner away from the doors and windows, or to escape to a larger safe area, such as training rooms and the gymnasium. Sirens blared their obnoxiously loud warnings as lights flashed and made it hard to determine what was reality and what wasn't. Nana's fingers flew across her keyboards, eyes darting between various screens of the security footage to find who was responsible for all this.

"Fires have broken out in sectors five and nine." She spoke into a headset perched over her ear. "Three lobby windows on the west side are blown open. Students are cowering in the hallways in sectors six and seven. Please be advised to approach with caution. They may lash out at anyone that gets too close. Be prepared to protect yourself from spells." She pulled up a facial recognition program on the computer and used it to scan the cowering kids. "They're all students. Get them to a safe spot. Has anyone got a visual on the culprit?"

"Negative. Sectors one, four, and eight have been cleared." A guard chirped into her ear through the headset.

"Sector three clear!" Another guard added in. "Moving onto sector five."

"Affirmative." The other guard responded.

"Is anyone at the old schoolhouse?" Nagisa wondered, pulling up the feeds from there as she spoke.

"I have units four and six on their way there now."

"Courtyards in sector five have been cleared, fires have been taken care of." A guard informed.

"We've arrived at the old schoolhouse." A guard cried out. "We need backup! Several windows are broken in and…"

"The entire west wing is on fire!" Nana's eyes widened as the feed came into focus. "Whoever did this, you find them now! Proceed with caution. They're clearly unafraid to burn."

"Power has been cut in sector six." A guard announced.

"Get all students and faculty into a more secure location." Nana ordered. "We need to be prepared to evacuate if necessary. We don't want the culprits to get away in the chaos. This is hunt and destroy mission. You have permission to use force from the Executioner."

"Yes, ma'am!" Several guards chirped back.

Nana continued flipping rapidly through security feeds. A bright red light lit up on her desk and started blaring louder than the rest of the school's system. She quickly stopped what she was doing and rushed to her feet. There was a tunnel entrance underneath the leftmost console. She dove for it, yanking it open and slipping inside. With seconds to spare, the tightened the latch to the room and rushed down the corridors underneath the school.

"Someone tried to get into my office. I've been compromised." She spoke into the headset. "Secure my office, ASAP!" She pulled a cell phone out and dialed quickly, putting it to her ear. "Ritsu!" She called. "Where is Septimal Moon? My office has been…"

"Kunugi is at the hospital with Nagisa, Mikado is attending one of her father's banquets, and Ritsuka should be at school back in Tokyo." Ritsu prattled off.

"And you?"

"I'm just outside the gates. I was on a trip into town when I got the notification from your alarm system." He stated. "The school won't last much longer if these people aren't found. The fires are dying down, but the chain lock on the front gate is broken clean off."

"I know, I know. I had to leave my office, so I have no idea what's going on. Didn't have time to grab my laptop."

The phone beeped and dropped the call. Nana cursed. This wasn't what she needed. She needed to be able to keep in contact with everyone and do her part in searching as well. She dialed another number instead.

"Seven, where are you?" One of the Zero boys-from the annoyed tone, it was probably Yoji-barked when he picked up the phone. "This place is a disaster zone…"

"I need you two to meet me at the underground entrance. I had to flee my office. You know where the entrance is, don't you?"

"Yeah, leads to the main lobby." Yoji answered. "Any idea who did this?"

"I know nothing without my computers." Nana replied. "I'm going into the rest of this blind. Just meet me in fifteen."

"Yeah."

They hung up and Nana dialed another number.

"Seven…? Why are you calling me?" Ritsuka wondered.

"Aoyagi, I need your assistance."

"Yeah…?"

"Can you get onto Wisdom Resurrection right now? Please, it's an emergency."

"Uh yeah, sure. Where am I going?"

"Enter sector seventeen, our private chat room. I need you to go in there and input a code. I'm running blind without my computers. I need you to access the security feeds and report to me what you see, okay?"

"I don't know if I can help, but I'll try." Ritsuka's end went silent for a good five minutes and, for a moment, Nana was worried the call dropped again. "Okay, I'm in."

"Okay, on your keyboard. Hit A, L, O, 1, 2, down, down, left, 4, 3, 0, 1."

"Okay…" A pause. "Wow, I can see the entire school on here…"

"The school has been compromised. I need you to look for anything suspicious, something that just doesn't seem like it belongs. Every camera field is labeled. I need the sector number and camera number if you find anything." Nana stated.

"Is everyone okay?" Ritsuka sounded panicked. "The school…so many fires…broken glass…everyone looks so scared…"

"How bad is the fire at the old schoolhouse?"

"There are still flames and smoke coming from the west wing."

"That's all? An improvement. Good. Do you see any fights anywhere?"

"No." A pause. "No, I don't see anything weird or out of the ordinary. No battles."

"My office. Sector one, camera 45." Nana spoke. "Is someone trying to break in?"

"Someone is inputting a code, but they have their hood up. I can't see who it is. Every time the door doesn't open, they hit the wall."

"Okay, so we're safe for now. Listen, I need you to click on the menu and switch to office view, okay?" She wondered.

"Okay?"

"I need those computers locked and shut down. You're going to go to menu, sub menu, encode."

"Okay…? I'm there."

"Input a six-digit code that only you would know. All numerical. Can be anything important to you that no one else can easily guess."

"Okay…done."

"Now hit enter and it will give you the option to either shut down or continue. I need you to choose shut down."

"Got it."

"Okay, menu, outside view." Nana directed. "Let me know when you see the same set up as you did earlier."

"I see it."

"Anything suspicious?"

"No…wait…Yoji and Natsuo are in the lobby talking to two people." Ritsuka's breath hitched. "Seven, wherever you're going, stay away. It's my brother and his Fighter."

"Soubi?"

"The other one. Soubi is back in Tokyo. Kio's seen him." Ritsuka responded. "Yoji and Natsuo can't take on Akame on their own. They'll kill them."

Nana pressed a button on her headset. "I need all available guards to report to the school lobby in sector one. We have a breach. Targets are Aoyagi Seimei and Akame Nisei of Beloved. Proceed with extreme caution. They're dangerous."

"Seven…they've started battling." Ritsuka seemed frightened. "They can't fight, they won't win. They won't know how badly they're being hurt until it's too late."

Seven felt a lump in her throat. If anything happened to Nagisa's precious Unit, she'd never forgive herself.

"Be advised that Zero has already engaged. Repeat, he intruders are Beloved and Zero has engaged."

She went back to the phone call and made a quick decision to head elsewhere. "Keep an eye on the fight. I have the guards making their way there now."

"There's no fight, Seven…they're just standing there, unmoving and staring. Oh god, Seimei's going to have Akame lynch them…"

"All available units report to the lobby _now_! We have a code 375." Nana barked. "Zero is in danger. I repeat, Zero is in danger. Get there and split it up _now_."

"There's a couple guards. They can't get into the battle zone…"

"Seven! The battle field is too strong. We're throwing all our spells at it, but we're limited." A guard spoke into the headset.

"God damn it, I need a stronger Unit…Loveless! See if you can contact Breathless. They should be able to break the barrier and get out of there."

"Seven…they'll be too late…"

From the typing Nana could hear on the phone, it seemed like Ritsuka was texting the other Unit anyway.

"Seven, this isn't good." One of the guards' voices came through her headset. "There's no battle, but something is happening."

"I recognize that spell. Seven, Zero is going to…my friends are…" The scream that ripped out of Ritsuka's mouth was something Nana never wanted to hear again.

"Loveless, what's happening! Loveless?"

"It's over…they're…" A guard paused. "Seven, its bloody…Zero doesn't stand a chance…"

"No, no, no! Get in there Stop the bleeding, do something!"

She got nothing but static on the headset and deafening silence from Ritsuka's end.

"Ritsuka? Guards? Someone answer me!"

"They're frozen in place…Seimei and Nisei are escaping…they'll kill more people, Seven…Yoji and Natsuo…they can't be saved…oh god…so much…Seven…"

"You listen to me well, Aoyagi! You know Zero as well as I do to know that they're not going to just die so easily, not at your brother's hands."

"I'm…I have to go…mother is calling…" Ritsuka gulped. "Seven…stop my brother…please…"

The phone went dead. Nana cursed and dialed another number.

"Nana-tan!" Nagisa cried out. "I can't get a hold of my baby Zeroes! Are they oaky? What's going on over there?"

"Beloved broke in…Nagisa…I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry…why…? No…no, no, no, no, no! They're…they're okay, right? My babies are…?"

"I'm sorry…you and Asitai need to get there ASAP. I don't think our nurses can…"

The phone went dead to the sound of Nagisa's sobs. Nana cursed and took a turn down another corridor. This was all her fault. If only her security system was better built, stronger. Sure, she went with a cute, simplistic design that was easy on the eyes, but at what cost?

At the end of the tunnel, Nana climbed a ladder to reach a latch at the top. After forcing it open, she emerged from the tunnels under the school into a far corner of the library that nobody visited due to its poor lighting and lack of anything worthwhile to look at or sit in. She quietly closed the hatch behind her and started making her way through the library. She heard footsteps and a creaking door and stopped. She hid behind a bookshelf as it became apparent that she wasn't alone. She stilled her breath, though her heart was beating out of her chest. If fighting the original Septimal Moon taught her anything, it was that patience and a jump on your enemy was the key to an easy victory, a safe escape. The footsteps went in the other direction and she let herself breathe. She continued to make her way through the vast library, cursing Ritsu's father for making it so large when he took over years ago. Her hand was about to grip the door handle when she heard a dark chuckling behind her.

"Ah, Nana. Predictable as always." A familiar voice spoke into her ear. "How good to see you again." A hand grabbed her and spun her around to face her companion in the darkness.

"Seimei." She gasped. "How did you get here so quickly?"

"Your footage is so easy to manipulate." Nisei informed, coming out from behind a bookshelf. "Where did you think we were? The lobby?"

Seimei chuckled. "That's what I wanted you to believe." He stated.

"You…you doctored the footage."

Nisei gave an annoyed wave. "Uh, _hello_? I'm the brains behind _that_ activity, you know. Seimei can't do a damn thing with computers."

"Silence." Seimei ordered, making his Fighter shut his mouth.

"Then…Zero is…?"

"By the time Nagisa arrives, they'll be so far gone, even Kunugi can't bring them back." A smirk. "We found the brats as soon as we got to the school."

"But…the guards…saw…?"

"Friends of ours." Seimei chuckled. "Voiceless, perhaps you've heard of them?"

A unit whose specialty was faking voices. So, when she called Yoji on the phone, it wasn't really him, but…

"It wasn't Yoji on the phone…or my guards in my head set…"

"And once the performance was over, your real guards were free to stumble upon the ruins of what was left behind." Nisei laughed. "Of course, a nice little selective signal jam helped keep the guards away."

"You speak too much." Seimei complained, and Nana was reminded of what a sadistic prick the teen was. "Your guards can't do anything. It's too late for Nagisa's precious little Zeroes. Ritsu was easy to take down, didn't see it coming." A chuckle at his own dark humor. "And now you're hand delivering Nagisa to me. And, no doubt, Moonless won't be far behind once she finds out I'm here again."

"You…you set this up perfectly from the start…" Her heart was pounding and blood running cold as she clutched at her chest. "You got everyone here and…now…"

"You're the last piece." Seimei snapped his fingers, and Nisei reached out, clenching the air with a fist.

Her airway immediately felt constricted. She grabbed at her throat as if trying to remove whatever was cutting off her air.

"Pointless." Seimei taunted. "End it, Nisei."

"Eternal slumber, lay claim to this feeble mind."

She felt cloudiness taking over, saw darkness pressing into the corners of her vision. Everything she'd ever done to protect the school as all for naught. Zero was gone, Ritsu was gone, Moonless, Nagisa, and even Nana were about to be gone. The school was left unguarded, the faculty, staff, and students vulnerable for whatever the rest of Beloved's plot had to give them. Safe houses and dark corners were as useful as a flat tire. Nowhere was safe, no one was safe. She knew her time was coming as Seimei snapped his fingers and ordered _end her_.

The last thing she saw before the world went dark was Seimei's dark grin and Nisei's half-cocked smirk.

000

The world snapped back into focus as Nana woke herself gasping for air. She clawed at her throat, only to find it was no longer constricted. There was a slight buzzing in her temples that she associated with a lack of good sleep as she tried to get her breath back. She'd fallen asleep at her computers as usual. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept in her own bed, in her own room. Instead, her nights were spent high on sugar and pumped full of caffeine and energy drinks, with glowing screens taking over her vision until exhaustion settled in. she looked around as the sound seemed to get worse, wondering if it was something else. She grabbed her phone, but it was dead, the red power light no longer blinking and the phone not responding to pressing the power button. Nana quickly hooked it to a charger and took a deep breath. When doing that a few times didn't work to stop the buzzing, she groaned. Nana grabbed a candy bar off the desk and tore into it, followed by a swig of an energy drink to top it off. The buzzing didn't go away. In fact, it almost seemed _louder_ still. She stood, gripping the console for support. The buzzing was now more of a light screeching and was seriously inhibiting her ability to function and focus.

The bluenette sighed and popped a couple aspirin from a jar on the counter, hoping it would relieve the pain as she left the room to go to the cafeteria for a hot cup of coffee; her usual morning ritual. The halls were mostly empty, a clock here and there alerting her that it was about eight in the morning. Most students were either just waking up or were already in the cafeteria, which explained the empty hallways.

Eight was a pretty early wakeup, even for her. It wasn't like she slept much with her insomnia and everything, but when she did, it was deep, and it lasted quite a while. The buzzing was starting to grate on her nerves as she grabbed a cup of coffee and threw the money for it onto the counter. The workers would see it and know it was her handy work, since even if she didn't sleep, it was the first thing she did every morning. One of the friendlier workers sometimes met up with her in the morning, but they mostly had the coffee ready long before she emerged from the computer room.

"Ugh, my head…" She complained, one hand massaging her temples as the other held onto her steaming cup of coffee.

"What's wrong with it?" Yoji wondered. "Aside from the usual, that is."

Nana rolled her eyes. "My head just hurts…don't worry about it…do you hear some kind of buzzing?"

"Like a bee?" Natsuo wondered.

"More like an alarm."

"No." Yoji's neko ears twitched. "I don't hear anything but normal school crap."

"Mhm…" Nana took a sip of her coffee and walked past them.

Maybe it was just a severe migraine. If she couldn't cure it with caffeine, sugar, and medication, then she'd go to either Nagisa or the medical ward to get seen. As a last resort, she'd call Kunugi.

"Nana-tan!" Nagisa stalked up to her, looking too perky and too pissed off for the hour. "I'm glad I've found you. Have you seen my baby Zeroes anywhere? I need to speak with them. Little brats messed with my stuff…"

She shrugged. "Down by the cafeteria…" She replied. "Do you hear buzzing? Like an alarm?"

"No, I don't hear anything." Nagisa shook her head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure." Nana responded. "My head keeps buzzing…"

"Well, go to the infirmary if you don't feel better within the hour!" Nagisa stalked past her towards the cafeteria.

Nana sighed. Oh Nagisa, always too wrapped up in her own head to see the world around her. No wonder Sanae was able to hide her true nature from her elder sister for all those years she was alive. The technician found her way back to the computer room and entered, the dim light inside being quite the contrast from the bright fluorescent lights of the hallways. She sat down and pulled a headset out from a drawer under one of the monitors. Maybe some work would make the buzzing go away.

"This is Seven in security. Status report." She greeted.

"Sector one is clear. The secretary is seated at front desk, and the doors have been unchained from last night's events." A guard answered.

"Sector two clear! Usual volumes of foot traffic. A group of birds is near the fountain, but nothing major beyond that." Another guard added.

The others went through, reporting each sector one by one.

"No unusual activity anywhere? A door left ajar, a window cracked just a bit too much?" Nana asked.

"Negative." A guard spoke. "Everything is fine and well at the school. Nothing odd, no one suspicious. Tis just as it was when we went to bed last night."

"Emphasis on _we_ , since _we_ know _you_ never actually get to bed." Another guard joked.

"Oh ha-ha." Nana rolled her eyes, finding a bit of relief in her headache starting to subside. "Do any of you hear an alarm going off?"

"I'm in sector three near you. I don't hear any alarms, and I have nothing going off on my pager." A guard informed her. "Are you alright, Seven?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine."

It was near dead-silent in the room as the obnoxious buzzing went away. Nana put down her headset and pushed her chair back from her desk a little. She sat there staring at the screens, not sure what to make of the strangeness. She pulled out her phone and dialed a very familiar number.

"I'm in the library with Loveless, Seven." Ritsu's voice answered. "I'll call you back."

"No, Ritsu, this is important." Nana responded.

"…What is it…?"

"I've heard a strange, obnoxious buzzing all morning like an alarm was going off." Nana sighed. "No problems have been reported, and the guards haven't found anything out of the ordinary."

"An auditory hallucination. That's a new one." Ritsu spoke to someone off the phone, probably Ritsuka. "It was visual for me this morning."

"You…had a hallucination this morning?"

"Yeah, he thought I was Seimei." Ritsuka replied. "Sorry, he put you on speaker."

"That's alright." Nana typed on her computer to pull up the library feeds. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "I guess it's just remnants of a dream I had last night, that's all."

"A dream?" Both males repeated.

"Seven, come to the library, would you?" Ritsu wondered. "I think I'm onto something."

"Sure." She stood, going over to the hatch in the floor. "I'm taking the scenic route."

"And bring your laptop. I think I'm onto something."

She nodded, knowing he couldn't see it. "Alright, see you soon."

She hung up and grabbed one of the charged laptops from the dock under the table. Nana rubbed her temples.

"Hallucinations brought on by a bad dream…I wonder if there's something in the air…from the chemistry lab, probably…" Nana disappeared into the catacombs under the school, muttering to herself.

The loud clang of the hatch closing resonated in the dark, blue-lit room as Nana made her way down the path from her dreams.


	5. Gomon Mikado

Dlbn: Here we are again! I actually finished this and half of next chapter yesterday. But had no time or energy to update, so here we are.

Nbld: Expect another one tomorrow to get everything posted by Halloween. Review Corner! Thank you to The DarkCat for reviewing chapter 3. No new reviews for the last chapter. Pumpkins for you!

The DarkCat: Yeah, I have to post quick to be done by Halloween ^" Hoping your week gets better! I hope when Koga gets back to writing, we get to see Sanae a little more. She's pretty interesting. I think it was young Misaki who mentioned that Sanae is hiding herself from Nagisa. I figure if she ever just loses it, she'd go off on Nagisa and show her sister her true self. I blame all three of them for what happened. Nagisa seemed a little overbearing, Ritsu was cold and aloof with her, and Sanae was sot of obsessed with him.

As far as the abuse, I feel like they have some skeletons in their closet, but who's to say? Something made Nagisa the way she is. To Nagisa, Ritsu is upsetting Sanae/hurting her heart by being obsessed with Soubi's mother and seemingly being indifferent to Sanae's wants and needs. To her, that's abuse because its hurting her precious little sister. With Nagisa's sister complex, she's obsessed with her sister as much as Seimei is obsessed with Ritsuka. Sanae's feeling trapped with Nagisa always wanting to be around her. Ritsu gives her more freedom because he isn't clingy like Nagisa.

I feel so bad putting Nagisa through that, but it _is_ a nightmare of her worst fears. In her case, her worst fear is that Sanae hated her. Tying that into her death is just how Nightmare made it even worse for her. I debated the pictures thing, but she had to have a reason to start freaking out, so I kept it. I'm glad you liked it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All the characters involved belong to Loveless and therefore Yun Kouga. I make NO money off this.

000

 __The two figures in front of her looks positively pathetic, Mikado decided as she stared down the two men that single-handedly destroyed everything she and her organization stood for. Like her father before her, she was going to have to eliminate any problem that stood in the way of Septimal Moon and their mostly peaceful world of Spell. In this case, Septimal Moon's own problem child and his equally problematic Fighter. She gingerly touched the top of her head, where her ears once sat. She didn't hate them for stealing her ears away, nor for cutting their hair. She wasn't lying when she told Aoyagi Ritsuka that. She hated them, hated _him_ for not giving her a reason. Akame she could at least say his reason was that Seimei told him to and he had no choice. That was logical, that was an answer. That made _sense_. But for Seimei to say he didn't have a reason, to betray the very foundation their comradery was built upon, gnawed at her very core until she couldn't take it anymore. He'd probably never give her a reason, even if he had one. Akame had muttered that it was to teach her a lesson. Tokino said Seimei was a sadistic bastard and was purposefully not giving her a reason because he knew that would hurt her. That was his reason.

Tokino's warm hand fell on her right shoulder. "Should we have someone else take over this execution?" He wondered softly. "You're shaking."

"I'll be fine." Mikado denied. "It's just the anticipation. Finally, after all these years…it's finally over."

Tokino nodded as if he understood, but his arms still wrapped around her middle and his lips moved against her left ear. "If it gets to be too much, I'll take over the duty, myself."

"I'll be fine." She argued. "Wake them up."

" _Ties that bind. Unravel and awaken the enemy to the world around them_." Tokino moved away from her so that Beloved couldn't take their close stance to mean something it didn't and distract her with it.

Slowly, the two stirred. Seimei's eyes fluttered and soon plum irises that matched his little brother's almost perfectly started to peek through the lids. His eyes opened completely when he tried to move his left arm and found that he couldn't. His eyes scanned the room for a moment before a lazy smile crossed his lips. It appeared he recognized where they were. Akame was facing her, so Seimei couldn't see her easily. He was taking a little more time to wake up.

"Well." Seimei spoke. "Not the place I thought I'd ever wake up to. Where are you, Gomon-chan?"

"Why so formal, Seimei?" Mikado wondered, taking slow, purposeful strides towards him.

Her heels clicked on the floor and echoed in the nearly empty execution chamber as she made her way to where he could see her out of the corner of his eye, but just barely.

"I suppose a formal execution requires a little formality, does it not? Or have you forgotten how this works?" Seimei chuckled. "I've seen enough of your handiwork to know how this goes. So, are you going to draw it out like with Respite? Or make it quick like Malice?"

He was taunting her, she knew, and she wasn't going to give into it. "You can play your mind games all your like, Seimei. You're at a rather clear disadvantage here."

"I don't see how, honestly." Seimei shrugged one shoulder. "So, you have us tied to chairs, in pretty little knots in excessive amounts. Hoping to bind us in place so you can make this quick without a fight, without bloodshed."

"I don't particularly care fi there's bloodshed. That's what the hole in the floor and _water_ are for. It will be like you were never here." She nodded at the one-way window where the rest of Septimal Moon was likely watching.

She hadn't cared to stay outside long enough to see who was going to be there and who wasn't. They all knew what happened to her; she had nothing to hide from them. If they came, they came. If they didn't, that was fine, too. As long as these monsters before her ceased to exist, that was all that mattered. She couldn't care less if the world around her burned to the ground. At least Aoyagi Seimei and Akame Nisei would never be able to harm another. Would Ritsuka weep for his brother's final passing, the one his family would never know about? Possibly. There was enough hate and anger in him towards his brother that it was possible he'd simply cut his losses and move on. Would Chouma, Seimei's only true ally, miss him? She'd probably just take over the criminal empire he was building and use it to extract her revenge on Septimal Moon, possibly only Moonless herself. Would any of Seimei's subordinates, people he tricked into joining him with false promises and pretenses, be sorry he was gone? Most likely no, once they realized how hard they'd been duped by the King of Mischief himself. They may even abandon Chouma, see her as just another extension of what they lost.

Would Akame's family miss him? From what she was told back when they were all still pretending they were allies, probably not. His brother or sister might be concerned, but it would be fleeting, and they'd never figure out the truth anyway. They'd juts figure that their brother's dark ways had finally caught up to him and ended his life. In a way, they'd be right. Would Mimuro of Fearless mourn the loss of his best friend, someone he could have called his lover in another life, under different circumstances? More than likely. He wasn't the kind to go for revenge, no matter how little he feared death or retaliation. The only thing that made Fearless shake in his own shoes was the idea of _Nisei_ dying. It was pathetic, really, how hard he pined for a Fighter that could never, would never, be his.

The damage done by their execution was far outweighed by the damage they'd caused to the world around them, the people around them. Ritsuka may never recover from the constant pattern of betrayals by his brother. His memory that his brother made Akame steal would never come back. Death didn't break spells. The boy was forever cursed with never knowing what the first ten years of his life was like, what a semi-normal family with a non-abusive mother, and a father that came home every night for dinner was like. Her ears and innocence would never return. She'd always feel the sting of betrayal at Seimei's lack of a reason. Units they'd executed together couldn't be resurrected. Their families would never know what happened to them, and those that did know, wouldn't be relieved by the deaths of these murderers. The empire he'd built under Septimal Moon's nose would likely collapse, its members going back to their normal, miserable, borderline-civilian lives. Akame's spy cameras would still be in place, Seimei's Wisdom Resurrection account would be forever frozen at max level. Seat Six would still be vacant until Ritsuka decided to step up and take it, lest he instead decided to take up Ritsu's offer of taking over his seat upon his passing. The world would keep on spinning, the people in it would keep on hurting from their damage. It would bring no closure to her soul, bring no relief or redemption. It would simply just be another fact. Aoyagi Seimei and Akame Nisei would disappear from this world without a trace, only their pain and suffering, memories held inside the minds and hearts of the people closest-or thought they were closest-to them would be left as a grim reminder that they had ever existed.

"Of course. Executed, stricken from the record. Just another page in the history books kept in the dark recesses of the Academy library." Seimei nodded. "I expect nothing less of you, Executioner."

Nisei groaned, finally starting to wake up from the effects of Tokino's spell. He wouldn't be able to open his mouth to talk, that was the one thing she might walk away from this proud of. While he'd been unconscious and further sedated, his jaw had been wired shut by medical professionals in Septimal Moon's infirmary. Select doctors hand-chosen by Kunugi himself that would keep their mouths shut, either under threat of Execution for those that were part of their world, or discreditation and a heavy lump sum of money from Septimal Moon's personal reserves for civilians. She knew that both Kunugi and Nagisa had been part of the team that had performed the surgery, and it was one of the high points of the doctors' lives.

Nisei's eyes widened as he tried to open his mouth to speak, but it came out as muffled mutters.

"Don't waste your energy, Nisei." Seimei warned. "You'll be lucky if they didn't completely cut your tongue out."

Render the Fighter useless, subdue the Sacrifice. That was the only way executions could take place. No point in attempting to end the life of another when their Fighter could just sue their spells to get in the way. Often, when it was just the Sacrifice being executed, it was done in secret while they were unconscious and wouldn't see it coming so that the Fighter couldn't get involved. The bond could be used to summon a Fighter, and there was no surgery or spell possible to sever the bond, so executions like that were reserved for more secure, deeper underground locations where no one could hear the screams.

Nisei made some form of acknowledgement with a grunt. Tokino stared at the dark Fighter, all the hate and rage he'd accumulated for what the lithe man had done to Mikado-by order or not, with reason or not, the actions were unforgiveable; she knew that as much as she tried to deny it-bubbling close to the surface. Luckily, he'd tamed his anger enough over the years that he wouldn't let it boil over. She couldn't blame him, though. Akame deserved every second, every ounce of it.

"You're wasting my time, Mikado. Why? Do you feel regret for your decision?"

She chuckled. "As if I could regret this, Seimei." She got closer to him, leaning down into his face and invading his personal bubble. The scowl on his face made her grin like a cat that got a canary. "The world is better off without people like you. It will go on spinning whether you live or die. Your families won't even care. In Akame's case, they won't know. Your parents and other relatives already think you're dead. The only one who will suffer is Ritsuka. But that's okay in the end, isn't it? After all, you made him suffer, too."

Seimei tried to lunge at her, but the bolted down chair made it impossible. "Keep my brother's name out of your filthy mouth."

"Ah, there it is!" She laughed. "Your carefully calculated, perfectly composed mask crumbles and shows your true nature the moment he's brought up! Ritsuka, Ritsuka, Ritsuka! That's all that matters, isn't it? Tell me, then, Seimei, if he's all that matters, why have you done him so wrong? Stole his memory, abandoned him, gave him Soubi and ripped him away just as he was starting to open up to him. You continuously come and go, continuously do things that hurt and upset him, yet you freak out any time anyone else even _attempts_ the same. You're a hypocrite among hypocrites, Seimei!" She spread her arms as she walked in a circle around the two. "You preach and preach and preach about how this is all for Ritsuka, how you're only thinking of him, want the world a better place for him. Yet your actions don't match your words! And you wonder _why_ he wants nothing to do with you _, why_ he hates you, hats being compared to you, _why_ he even altered his hair and popped in contacts to prevent being compared to you! You do all this for him, yet you push him away. How are you helping anyone? In the end, Seimei, face it! You're not in this for Ritsuka, you're in this for you! All the plans and schemes and revenge and death, it's all for _you_ , what's best for _you and_ the world _you_ want to live in. Tell me, if you want a safe world for him, why do you leave him with that wretched mother of yours? Why don't you anonymously call the authorities and get him out? So, you can look like the better person in the end when you come swooping in to save him from his own personal hell? Face it, Aoyagi, you've tainted your good big brother image so bad that there's nothing you can do to reverse it." She stopped in front of him and grinned sadistically. "You've _failed,_ Seimei. And in the end, you're going to die for a cause you have no business claiming to be a part of anymore. And that just hurts, doesn't it?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That's why you can't bear to hear his name."

"You think you know everything, don't you? Think you've got it all figured out. You foolish, ignorant child." There was something demonic in his eyes, in his smirk. "Yet you know nothing. Ritsuka has no one looking out for him. Soubi left him, father abandoned him for another woman and her child, mother abuses him. He's got no one but me. And when I finally swoop in and take him away from all that, everything I've done that's hurt him, that's upset him, made him angry, will mean nothing. He'll forget all about what he's been through. In the end, the world _will_ be better place for him. Whether or not I'm in it doesn't matter. There are people that will take my place, carry on my work. With me gone, the baton just gets handed to the next runner. You'll never be able to stop it. We'll never stop coming. And later down the line, when you're begging for mercy, begging to keep your place in this world and not be forced to utter your last breath, that's when you'll realize it. That I'm still here. My body may be gone, my soul will leave my body. But my work will carry on, my teachings will pass down. In the end, it will be _my_ foundation, _my_ influence, that will be your downfall. You'll never escape me, whether I live. Because in the end, I'll always live in your mind. You'll never get your answer, and that will gnaw at you until you can't take it anymore and lose your mind, maybe you'll even resign under the pretense of destroying me having been your end goal and the game was no longer fun. I'm never going to live, because I've taken residence in your mind. I don't care whether or not we die," a protest from Akame, "as long as it takes you bastards down in the end, then my work will have meant something."

The tension in the room was so thick, Mikado felt like she needed fog lights to see through it. Tokino chuckled.

"You're the one that doesn't get it, Aoyagi." He stated. "Once you're gone, she won't think another thing about you. Your empire will die, and everything you've worked so hard for will disappear. Your efforts will be meaningless in the end. Without your Fighters, without your _brother_ , you're nothing. And soon you'll have neither. I wonder what's a worse fate. Your empire falling and _all_ that hard work going down the drain or being forced to walk this earth until your dying day with no one at your side." He leaned close to Akame. "Your master is gambling with your life, Akame. And you've let him so long. Time's up, the bookie is here to collect his debt."

The lack of fight in Akame's eyes would have been heartbreaking if it were anyone else. He deserved just as much suffering as he gave.

"And where does that leave your end? Sure, your parents might not give a second thought as to why no one sees you anymore. Your brother and sister might bring you up to one another on occasion and reminisce on the times when there was an Akame trio, not an Akame duo. To your family, life will go on as if you were just never there in the first place. But what about the people you _really_ care about? What about Mimuro? Where are you leaving him? You're so committed to Seimei and his special brand of _bullshit bingo_ , that you've forgotten to think about your one and only friend. And, dare I say it, the closest thing you're ever going to have to a lover?"

Nisei closed his eyes and looked away as if he didn't want to face the grim reality descending upon him like Jenova on Midgar.

"Enough." Seimei ordered the elder fighter. "You can do whatever you feel necessary, but the mind games aren't very much appreciated. If you must resort to that, then you're truly at your lowest."

"But Seimei, mind games are your specialty." Mikado chuckled. "Are you insinuating that even you have no footwork to step on? That you're on your last up at the plate?"

He said nothing, knowing she was right. He was as out of options as she was. It would take a miracle to get him out of this. Sure, she was probably right that everything would fall apart in the end. And he was probably right that his actions and lack of a reason would tear her apart inside until she had no idea who she was anymore. It was a lose-lose situation no matter who's side you viewed it through. But this was where his actions and manipulations had led them, and they'd have to live with that. To his credit, at least his last minutes alive were quickly ending. There was only so much she could banter and attempt to press guilt onto someone who was completely incapable of feeling guilt and remorse. Seimei was a sociopath and a psychopath wrapped into one. There were plenty of psychiatrists that would love to get their hands on him and dissect how his brain worked. Alas, none of them would get the chance. Seimei would just be another statistic, another metaphorical notch in the Executioner's belt that reminded everyone who mattered why crossing Septimal Moon was a _bad decision_. She was as okay with being a martyr as he was.

"I fear out time together is growing ever shorter." Tokino informed. "It's no fun with only one of them able to fight back." He kicked Akame's chair lightly. "This one's given up. He knows I'm right, don't you, Akame? You'll never get to apologize to the one person on this planet that didn't think you were downright scum. And that hurts, doesn't it? You've hurt him as badly as Seimei's hurt Ritsuka. The only difference? Little Aoyagi has accepted reality and given up on his brother. Mimuro continues to see you through rose-colored glasses no matter how many times its pointed out just what kind of person you are. Knowing just what he's getting into, he keeps coming back for more."

Nisei's head snapped up and he glared. He bared his teeth like an angered dog-and in the end he was just Seimei's _dog,_ so it was rather fitting-but couldn't say anything. He literally had no choice but to keep his mouth shut and silently fume. He did manage a little growl, though, but it was about as intimidating as a shaking chihuahua.

"I think it's about time we got to ending this, Tokino." Mikado feigned a yawn. "I'm growing rather bored of the back and forth. Akame may realize where he went wrong, but even he's not fit for redemption."

Tokino nodded. "How shall we do this, hm? Slay the mutt and leave the master for last?"

Nisei's eyes went wide, and he stopped his angry bravado act. Deep down, Mikado knew he was just a scared little boy that didn't know any better but to follow Seimei's orders and cut, cut, cut everyone down to size in His name. none of that left him exempt from blame. As mindless of a sheep as he was, he was still liable for his actions. She'd never forgive him. People told her that you should give forgiveness because its what's best for you, not because those who have wronged you deserved it. Her own father had told her that growing up, and she hadn't believed it then. Forgiveness was a free pass. He'd never hear those words as long as he continued to live. Neither of them would.

"Clearly Seimei cares not if we kill either one." Mikado sighed. "I suppose we'll spare the mutt for now."

Nisei's head shook back and forth in denial. She knew he was afraid to die, regardless of whether he accepted it as an inevitability of life or of Seimei. But it appeared he was more afraid to live in a world without Seimei. Severing their bond and watching him live for a few moments knowing he'd failed his master would be the sweetest revenge she could ever get on either one of them.

Tokino sighed. "Whatever you desire, my queen."

She knew he wanted to end Akame more than Seimei, held him more responsible. But it would be more fun, more damaging, for her if she were to let the now shaking teen suffer a bit before his final breaths.

"I know I shouldn't bother asking, and I'm going to regret it, but I extend this courtesy to everyone who visits these chambers." Mikado closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths before opening them and staring at Seimei was a look she hoped was more ferocious then frightened. "Any last words, Seimei?"

Most people cursed her or Septimal Moon to hell and back, blamed them for their own actions. Would Seimei's final words be a threat, or a promise?

The dark Sacrifice chuckled darkly, his aura surrounding him growing dark and radiating so much it was almost suffocating.

"Game over."

She cocked an eyebrow. "What are you…?"

The door to the execution chambers opened quickly and slammed against the walls as if an explosion had rocked them. Tokino rushed to Mikado's side, standing in front of her as the smoke cleared and two figures appeared. The shorter of the two burst through the smoke and instantly latched onto Seimei.

"Seimei!"

"Loveless?" Moonless wondered as one, sharing a look.

Why was he here? To say his final goodbyes? Why so dramatic? Soubi walked in last, casually lighting up a cigarette like he had just gotten out of a long lecture. He barely even acknowledged the bound occupants of the room.

"Ritsuka, you've come." Seimei's tone instantly changed. "I'm glad you got my message."

At some point during Mikado and Tokino's monologues, he must have summoned Soubi via their bond. Or at least gave him a cryptic enough message to make Ritsuka worry.

"Where…where are we…?" He seemed to notice the other Unit for the first time. "Moonless…?"

"Ah, greetings, Ritsuka…" She cleared her throat. "I regret I didn't send you an invitation, but I didn't think you'd come. How foolish of me."

"Invitation?" He looked down at the ropes binding his brother, then finally to Akame. "Akame?"

He just grunted.

"It appears his jaw has been wired shut." Soubi informed, inspecting the teen. "Good, I was worried I'd have to hear his mouth."

"Soubi!" Ritsuka scolded as Nisei let lose a string of noises that were probably meant to be curses and insults. "Invitation for what?" His eyes widened. "This…you're…"

"An execution, yes." Tokino informed gently. "It's…about time we brought Seimei's reign of terror to an end."

"I have the full support of Septimal Moon." Mikado informed. "Are any of them present?"

"I don't…I don't know. I came right here. We didn't see anyone but some students at the school." Ritsuka shook his head.

"No one is here." Soubi informed, nodding up at the one-way window. "They don't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing they cared enough to come see this."

"Soubi…did you know this was happening?" Ritsuka's voice was low, accusatory.

Soubi immediately balked. "I apologize, Ritsuka. From what Seimei told me, I had a feeling it was. I didn't want to worry you."

"We'll talk about it later." Ritsuka growled. "What if we had been too late? How would you have explained that to me…?"

"Gomennasai." Soubi hung his head.

Although Mikado knew Ritsuka was opposed to treating his servant like a slave, Soubi sure acted like one with him. He was free from Seimei's control now-he wouldn't have been allowed near Ritsuka if he wasn't freed-but he seemed to remember his teachings.

"It's okay…" Ritsuka smiled gently. "I forgive you." He turned to Mikado. "Are you…really going to kill them?"

"A second more and you'd have bene too late." She admitted. "Your brother is first to go. I feel living a few extra moments knowing he failed to protect his master is a more fitting punishment for Akame than death."

"She's not wrong." Soubi pointed out, earning a glare from the dark Fighter.

"You…you can't…I just got Seimei back…" His neko ears flattened.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You…"

Even after all Seimei had done to him, how much he'd hut him, Ritsuka still didn't want him to die?

"If Seimei is gone, you'll be free." Tokino informed. "All your suffering will be over."

"Then I'll have new suffering." Ritsuka glared. "I can't live with myself knowing that I couldn't…"

"Ritsuka, it's alright." Seimei cooed. "There's no changing their mind. Its official." Mikado knew his depressed tone was false, meant to lure Ritsuka in and get him to do his bidding without directly saying it. "I'm going to die here, for real this time. I'm sorry, Ritsuka…I'm just glad I got to see you one last time…"

Ritsuka shook his head. "Mikado…please…don't…"

"I have to, Ritsuka." She spoke softly.

He may have been at least fifteen now, but he was still a child in many ways. Seimei would use it to his advantage. He already was.

"Don't you see he's manipulating you?" Tokino cocked an eyebrow. "Used Agatsuma to get you here, using your devotion to him to get you to save him…it's all been planned from the start, probably since we woke him up."

"He's my brother." Ritsuka responded. "Please, I just got him back. Don't take him away from me…"

"Ritsuka…" Soubi seemed to regret bringing his lover there now.

"There's nothing you can do." Mikado informed. "He knows that as well as I do, as well as you do. Knowing you can't save him is going to tear you apart. Its best you just turn around and walk away; forget you saw any of this. "I'm sure your boyfriend can erase the memory if you just ask."

"No!" Ritsuka glared. "My memories are as sacred to me as your reasons are to you. To lose another memory…I couldn't bear it…" He looked away.

Mikado didn't know what to say. He had a point. Memories were everything to him now that he was lacking so many. Asking him to erase a memory was like asking her to not ask for a reason. It just couldn't be done, went against core values. She and Ritsuka were more alike than she thought she and Seimei had been. The thought was frightening. All this time, she was associating with the wrong Aoyagi brother.

"I'm sorry." Mikado said gently. "But Ritsuka, your brother has done terrible things. He'd made Akame and even _Soubi_ do terrible things."

"I forgave Seimei years ago."

"He doesn't deserve it."

"But I do. I deserve peace of mind. I can't go on with hate in my heart...life is too short to hate."

"You…sound like my father…" She admitted reluctantly. "But I'm sorry. As long as I am alive and standing in this room, Aoyagi Seimei and Akame Nisei will die. That's the reality of things. Don't hide from reality like your father. Face it."

Ritsuka glared. "I'll stop you, then."

"You're a pacifist." Tokino admonished.

"So are you, yet you're the Executioner's Fighter." Ritsuka responded. "We're all hypocrites here."

Mikado clenched a hand to her chest. "You're going to make an enemy of Septimal Moon doing this, Aoyagi. Please, reconsider fighting me over this."

"I'm afraid my master's desire is not to fight." Soubi informed, snuffing out his cigarette against the chair Akame was sitting in.

The other Fighter moved away from the stick that was close to setting his hair on fire at the same time.

"Agatsuma, you know the consequences." Tokino stated. "If you lose, all four of you die."

"It's not a fight." Soubi countered.

Seimei smirked. "It's an execution."

"You planed this…you conniving son of a…" Mikado almost attacked him herself, but Tokino yanked her away from the brothers and their delusional Fighters.

"Mikado, we need to leave."

"Soubi…" Ritsuka paused. "They're my friends…"

"I'm your brother." Seimei objected. "Please, Ritsuka, if you're going to spare me, do it quick. Don't torture me by offering me salvation and then ripping it away…"

"Don't fall for it, Ritsuka. He's manipulating you."

The younger Aoyagi smiled softly. "I think I can live with that…Soubi…don't let them kill Seimei…"

She noted with a little bit of pride that he didn't include Nisei in that.

"Will you give me the satisfaction of killing the Fighter?" Mikado wondered. "Then we can square away everything else."

"We're a packaged deal." Seimei pointed out. "You spare both of us or you let us both die. I can't live without my Fighter."

Which was why he was willing to sacrifice him earlier, right. She knew what he really meant. Without Nisei, he had no Fighter to control. Soubi was clearly working for Ritsuka now, if the missing bandages and name around his neck were any indication, his name had been rewritten. He needed Nisei if he were to live. If he were to die, Nisei's fate wouldn't matter.

"I…" Ritsuka shook his head. "Soubi…stop this…please…"

"As you wish." Soubi agreed.

"Don't make this mistake, Agatsuma." Tokino warned. "Ritsuka doesn't know any better, but you do. If you fail…"

"Silence." Soubi ordered.

"Death! Snare Beloved in your hold…!" Tokino's voice ended halfway through his spell, Soubi's being too quick to counter.

Mikado's eyes widened as Seimei and Nisei both seemed to struggle with breathing. Tokino mouthed _run_ to her. She felt frozen in place. She couldn't let Soubi kill her or Tokino, but she couldn't let Beloved live either. Without Tokino, though, it looked like she didn't have a choice. Ritsuka or Soubi could physically stop her if she tried to strangle him, since she had foolishly left any and all other weapons home.

"Soubi…!" Ritsuka seemed at a loss, just holding tight to his brother as tears fell. "Soubi, _please_ …!"

"Soubi…please…" She pleaded one last time.

"I'm sorry." Soubi responded, eyes hard and tone dark. "I can only follow my master's will."

"I'm sorry, Mikado…" Ritsuka's eyes were brimming with tears. "I asked you to stop…"

"I can't…"

"I know." Ritsuka nodded slowly.

"Neither can I." Soubi informed.

"I know." Mikado confirmed.

"Death's whisper, slide in on this moonlit night and end Moonless. Trade Beloved for Moonless…"

Mikado felt her throat closing at the same time that Tokino made choking sounds, hands flying to his throat. His eyes pleaded with Soubi to counter the spell, for her sake if not for hers.

"It's okay…Tokino…" Mikado spoke in gasps. "It's…our fate…"

"I have to protect Seimei, Mikado…he'd the only family I have left…" Ritsuka buried his face into Seimei's shoulder. "That's my reason…"

She smiled gently. Though he'd just cause the death of someone, two someone, he called a friend, he was at least giving her the courtesy of a reason before she died. Upholding her beliefs even in her last few moments.

Tokino crawled to her and held her close, tears slipping as his brain started to shut off. Hers followed suit as she slumped into him. With one last gasp, and one last thought, she gave into the darkness seeping in.

No matter how many times people compared the two, Aoyagi Ritsuka could _never_ be Aoyagi Seimei.

000

Mikado woke screaming. The door to her room flew open and her father rushed in.

"Mikado!" He greeted. "What's wrong, are you okay…?"

She stopped screaming, breath coming in shallow pants as she tried to gain composure. "F-Father…I'm fine…" She held her chest. "Nightmare…"

He smoothed down her hair, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "You're alright, Princess." He promised. "It's just a dream. It's not real."

"I know…I know…" She composed herself and cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

Emotions were a big no-no in her house for the most part. It was why he was so calm with her instead of panicking.

"Relax, Princess." He stated. "You've been working too hard lately. I should tell Ritsu to lighten up on you."

"No need." She shook her head. "I'll be fine."

"Alright." He pat her on the head. "If you need anything, just ask."

She nodded. "Yes."

Once he left, she stood and got dressed, opening her cell phone and dialing Tokino on speed dial.

"Good morning, my Queen!" He greeted cheerfully. "You're up rather early for a Saturday morning."

"Tokino, are you alright?" She wondered.

"Hm? Why, yes, I'm fine. Had a good night's sleep and a descent breakfast this morning. I was just on my way to wake you. I grabbed your father's newspaper off the drive."

"Ah, diligent as always. I'll meet you in the foyer."

"As you wish, my Queen."

She sighed and hung up the phone. "My valiant knight…you'd never let that happen…Seimei would never get one over on us like that. His death will be swift." She nodded once in finality and made her way downstairs.

The doorbell rang, and a maid let the visitor into the foyer.

"Ah, Miss Gomon-chan." She bowed to the young girl. "Your friend is here for you. How nice to see you up and ready to early in the morning."

"Thank you, Akita." Mikado responded. "That will be all." She turned to Tokino. "How nice to see…" She paused, a scream dying in her mouth as it scrambled up her throat.

Tokino was standing there with a newspaper in hand for her father, a parfait in the other hand for her. Nothing should have been unusual about the scene. Just another morning in her book. The normalcy was overwhelming. Except for one little detail. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Her mind was just applying tricks on her because of the dream. That's all, right? When she opened them, sadly, the reality before her didn't change.

Tokino frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" She wondered. "Goodness, what happened…you're…covered in blood…"

How did Akito not say something? Her father might see it as normal because he knew of her position, but their civilian staff at the manor would have been alarmed.

"I'm sorry, Mikado, but I'm fine…" He looked himself over. "Not a speck of blood on me."

"More like a flood if you ask me. Did you get into a fight?" She took the stairs two or three at a time.

"Of course not. I would have alerted you if there was an issue." He shook his head. "I promise, there is no blood on me."

His hair was stained cherry and his shirt was ripped in a few places. The skin exposed by the rips was either bloody or black and blue. There were bloodstains on his toes and bloody foot prints leading to where he was standing.

"Oh, but there is…"

"Tokino, good morning." Her father greeted, extending his hand for the paper. "Don't be rude, Mikado, he's holding your parfait."

"I think she's in a state of shock." Tokino informed. "She seems to think I'm covered in blood."

"What?" Her father looked him over, spinning the other man by the shoulder to get a full look. "Mikado, he's fine. I told you you've bene working too hard. I'm going to have a talk with Ritsu tonight. Tokino, get her to bed, would you?"

"Absolutely not." Mikado argued, grabbing her coat and an umbrella. "We're going to the Academy. Come, Tokino."

"Yes, ma'am." Tokino bowed slightly. "Oyasumi, Gomon-sama. I'll bring her home safely."

"Make sure she doesn't over work."

"I will."

She yanked him away from the door and it shut behind them.

"How do neither of you see it?" She wondered. "It looks like you were hit by a bus or mangled in a meat grinder…"

"New forms of executions, my Queen?" Tokino chuckled. "I don't mean to laugh, Mikado, but there's no blood. This entire thing is a little ridiculous…"

She glared at him. "You are head to toe covered in blood."

"I am not." He replied. "If you're the only one that sees the blood, don't you think that's a little strange? I passed many people on the way here from the school, and no one mentioned it. Don't you find that odd?"

"I…" She paused.

What was she doing? Acting like a crazy teenager over something that clearly no one else could see. Tokino put a hand on her shoulder, bringing the beginning of her nightmare to the front of her mind.

"Tokino…?" She wondered slowly.

"Yes?"

"On our watch list…isn't there a Unit that causes nightmares…?"

"I believe their name _is_ Nightmare, yes." Tokino nodded a confirmation.

"I…have a hunch…" She pulled out her cell phone and led Tokino towards the school.

"Why is everyone calling today?" Ritsuka's voice greeted.

"Aoyagi?" Mikado wondered. "My apologies, I thought I called Ritsu…"

"You did. He's going through records with Seven." Ritsuka replied. "What's going on…?"

"I had a nightmare." She admitted. "When I woke up…"

"You saw or heard something that wasn't there, right?"

"Why, yes, Tokino covered in blood." Mikado confirmed. "How did you know?"

Ritsuka laughed softly, but it was dry. "You're not the only one." He informed.

"The others have as well? This is troubling." Mikado observed. "I think I have a hunch. Is everyone gathered?"

"Just Ritsu, Nagisa, Seven, and me right now."

"I have no doubt Kunugi will be on his way at some point as well. Summon him if you must. I will meet you there with Tokino."

"You got it. I'll let them know."

"Oh, and Aoyagi?"

"Yes?"

"If I were to ever execute your brother…would you stop me if given the chance…?"

A pause.

"I guess I would." Her heart sank. "Depending on what I'd have to do. I couldn't kill anyone…especially not my friend…why do you ask…?"

"Just wondering…"

"Was it part of your nightmare?"

"I…"

"It's okay, I get it." He responded. "Seimei's been able to fool me before…and Soubi, too. But…there's a limit. I know the difference between right and wrong. I know my brother deserves everything that comes to him, but it doesn't mean I want him to die."

"Do you know where Soubi is?"

"Why would I?"

"He's your boyfriend, isn't he?"

"What? No…why does everyone think that? I'm seeing someone, but it's not Soubi. He left me for my brother, remember? I'm not waiting forever for him."

"Do you forgive him?"

"For leaving? Yeah, I forgave him a while ago. He doesn't know any better, but I do. I'm tired of being miserable and angry at him."

Ritsuka really was too kind of his own good. One day it would come back to bite him, she knew, but hopefully it wouldn't do the same to her.

"I see…thank you, that clears up a lot of things for me."

"You're welcome…should I give the phone to Ritsu?"

"No, just let him know I am on my way."

"I will."

He hung up without so much as a goodbye. At least he had that in common with his brother.

"Are you okay now?" Tokino wondered.

Mikado looked up at him. The blood was gone and in its place was the same, smiling Tokino she'd come to know over the years.

"Yes, I think I'm alright." She responded. "It appears the others have been having issues as well. I feel a spell is at work here. And I think I know who's behind it."


	6. Kunugi Asitai

Dlbn: We rear our heads again for another chapter! Right on schedule. Only three left until the story's done. Expect them every day from now til the 31st.

Nbld: Let's get the ball rolling with the Review Corner! Thank you to Promocat, Messy bookshelf, and The DarkCat for reviewing chapter 5, and Messy bookshelf for reviewing chapter three and The DarkCat for reviewing chapter four! Pumpkin spice or apple cider drinks for you all! (I'm an apple cider drinker myself)

Promocat: Both are strong in their own right. Nightmare's power focuses on causing harm to their foes. Soubi's concentrates on protecting his master.

Messy bookshelf: She's one of my favorites, too. I don't try to be sadistic, but it's almost required in any Halloween fic I write at this point ^^" I'm glad you're enjoying the fic!

The DarkCat: I'm glad you liked! This was my favorite to write so far. Seimei needs to learn to align his words and actions better if he wants to trick anyone. I love that line. Something Tokino would say to cut the tension, definitely.

The DarkCat (chapter 4): Originally, I was just going to have Zero die off and Nana be haunted by that in the waking world, since they were Nagisa's babies and they seem to be best friends. I'm glad I included it. For the escape route, I figure she needs a way out if something ever goes down, since she basically lives in the computer labs.

Messy bookshelf (chapter 3): I'm glad you've enjoyed the nightmares so far. Nagisa's fear for her sister's life is paralleled only by her anguish that her sister may find her annoying. I'm more a comedic writer then anything, but I can pull out some horror when its necessary ;) Thank you so much. I'm glad you're enjoying this as much as I am.

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and pretty much every character _except_ Kunugi's last name, and anyone mentioned that's canon to Loveless (I think it's just Septimal Moon, Ritsu, and Ritsuka). Everything else belongs to Loveless and is the property of Yun Kouga. I make NO money off writing this.

Dedication: It I with a heavy heart that I dedicate this to my mouse I found, Sunny. I checked on her when I woke this morning, and she wasn't moving or anything. I tried to alert her by tapping on the cage bars and gently pushed at her back with a toy that was laying around and she just kind of slid. I had my boyfriend check and she's deceased. She didn't last super long with us, but at least she was somewhere safe and warm in her final days. Not sure what caused it, but she may have just eaten something bad before I caught her or something. I miss you my tiny baby mouse. Poor little Sunny mouse :'(

Side note: Every example of comas given by Doctor Yume is a real case! I did some research on it.

000

Asitai stood with his arms folded over his chest and a scowl on his face in the doorway to Mirai's hospital room. For decades, he and Septimal Moon had been paying to keep him alive on life support while he desperately searched for a counter-spell. And yet, one _idiot_ that he swore he was going to fire the hell out of after this, had gotten a hold of Mirai's parents. Parents who kicked him out when they were teenagers because pf their relationship. Parents who hated their son for disgracing their family by being kicked out of the Academy. Parents who had _no right_ to know what was and wasn't happening with their son. The nurse had believed that keeping him on life support was a worse fate then just letting him die. Without exposing their world and just how much Mirai meant to him personally, he couldn't explain how taking him off life support would be like killing them both. They were going to have to take him to court if they thought he was going to let them take Mirai away. Even if he was close to waking, even if there was nothing wrong his parents were so ashamed of their own son that there was no doubt they'd let him die to save their own hides.

One of the doctors that had been handling Mirai's case until Asitai took over for him two years prior, walked up to him.

"It's not looking good." He said. "I know you're invested in him, but I don't think Mirai is going to survive his parents."

He'd been first assigned to the case when Asitai first brought him to the hospital for help. Three or four other doctors had assisted him, coming and going every time. He stopped in and helped Asitai out when he could, but he had other patients to take care of as well. That left Asitai with a team of nurses that were clearly incompetent. He glared at the one that had ratted them out as she talked with Mirai's parents.

"Tai." The other doctor got his attention. "I know you love him and it's hard to let go, but I'll guard the door while you go in and spend time with him. It…may be the last time you get to do so."

"Don't talk like it's the end of the world or you'll cause it." Asitai warned. "But I'll go see him…"

The other doctor nodded and took Asitai's place. The redhead entered the room after putting on necessary gloves.

"It's going to be an uphill battle, babe." Asitai informed the comatose Fighter. "Your parents are here. I'm going to wring that nurse's neck for doing this. I know she had good intentions, but she should have minded her own business."

He took his usual seat next to his boyfriend and took his hand in both of his.

"I'm not going to let them have their way. There are court proceedings going on now. The judge is going to come here, I believe, to see the situation for himself." Asitai sighed. "I just hope you're ready for one more fight, love."

He heard running water and turned to see Mirai's parents and their lawyer, the judge, a lawyer Ritsu hired for him, a bailiff, three members of hospital security, the other doctor, and two nurses washing up to sterilize. Mirai's mother gave him some side eye that went unnoticed by anyone else, of course. He just glared and set Mirai's hand down. If he was going to fight for him, he was going to do it right.

"You always had my back. It's about time I had yours." Asitai stood. "Wish me luck…"

The door opened when the others were finished, and they entered.

"Presenting the Honorable Judge Tumeki Akai." The bailiff greeted.

"Your honor." Asitai bowed slightly. "I apologize for the inconvenience and lack of room."

"This kind of thing happens more than you think it does, it's alright." The judge informed. "I take it you're Shenai-san's doctor?"

"I am. Kunugi Asitai." He greeted. "I took over the case two years ago from Doctor Yume." He nodded towards the other doctor.

"What was the patient's state before you stepped down?"

"His mind is very much active. He's…just not waking up. He isn't medically sedated. Patient was in an unconscious state when he was brought in about twenty-five years ago. Physically, he's fine. When he awakes, he will still be in the mental capacity of a teenager." Yume responded. "His bodily functions are closely monitored. His heart rate and pulse are average, but he needs assistance breathing."

The judge nodded. "Is there any hope for recovery?" He looked to Asitai.

"With anyone in a coma, the chances of survival are low, yes, but miracles have happened, and people have survived. Given the length of his condition, there is a ninety percent chance he will not recover. Given his physical state, there is a ninety percent chance he will awaken, though we have no way to tell when."

The judge nodded. "You are the patient's parents, correct?"

"We are." His father nodded.

"And you are now changing your mind about the life support? Why?"

"We never knew." His mother responded. "Someone couldn't be bothered to tell us."

The judge cocked an eyebrow and looked at Asitai and then back. "The information as withheld from you?" He looked back at Asitai. "Why?"

"They forfeited any right to know what was going on with him when they disowned and tossed him out at age seventeen." Asitai informed, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. "It didn't make sense to alert them when he could be saved, knowing they would likely vote to not give him that chance.

"Was this something the patient told you when he was first admitted?" He looked to the other doctor.

"Um, no." Yume responded. "This information was given to us when he was first admitted, yes, but he was unconscious when he was brought here."

"So, who told you?" The judge looked back to Asitai.

"Mirai did." Asitai nodded down at him. "Twenty-five years ago, when he showed up on my doorstep in the middle of the night crying with nowhere to go."

"You have a previous relationship with the patient?"

"They're friends." Mirai's dad spoke up. "They were friends at the Academy they attended until they were sixteen."

"Ah, so you have a personal connection."

"I do." In more ways than one. Just friends his ass.

"Did he tell you why he was kicked out?"

"His parents found out his sexuality." Asitai stated. "Called him a few words I am not going to repeat and told him to get lost. He came to my house for shelter."

"Were you with him when he went unconscious? I'm guessing you brought him in…?"

"I was." And here came the rehearsed story he'd gone over with Ritsu a million times as a teenager.

"What happened prior to Mirai losing consciousness?"

"We were in town to visit old friends from school. We were taking a walk through the park and he started complaining of a headache. He refused medicine and said he was probably just hungry. Not even ten minutes later, he told me he didn't feel good again and collapsed."

He'd left out the part where they'd met an enemy Unit that was trying to stop them from taking over Septimal Moon as planned, and the Unit had cast a spell on him to knock him out.

"I see." Judge nodded. "What did preliminary findings dictate?"

"There was no logical explanation for why he suddenly collapsed or why he would not regain consciousness." Yume stated.

"So, you knew all these years that he was here in a coma, and you did not tell his parents?"

"As I said, they disowned him and kicked him out of the house." Asitai stated. "I wasn't going to let them kill him."

"This is torture. You're holding onto some strange belief that after almost three decades, he's going to suddenly wake up. Well he isn't. when will you start living in the real world? Both of you kids were delusional from the get-go." Mirai's mother complained.

"I know Mirai better than you ever could. I spent several years at school with him, going through the same trials and tribulations as him. He spent every waking moment with me after you tossed him out like day old trash. I think I'm in a better position to decide what's right for _my_ boyfriend than you are."

Silence reigned.

"You're…his boyfriend…?" His father wondered.

"Took you this long to figure out? Why else would he come right to me for help?" Asitai snorted. "We have a deeper bond then you can ever hope to believe."

One of the nurses shied away, as if he knew something. Asitai was certain he wasn't part of their world, but people tended to do a good job at hiding it when they wanted to get away from all the chaos.

"All that aside." The judge stepped in. "You're only dating, correct, not married?"

"We were teenagers when he fell into his coma. We're just dating. I never really got the chance to ask." Asitai responded.

"Of course." The judge flushed, looking over papers the bailiff handed him. "I'm looking at his medical charts. Outside of being in a coma, he's a perfectly healthy young man. The chance of recovery is slim, it would appear. What is the point of keeping him on life support if he's going to be like this until his last days?"

"He just doesn't want to let go." Mirai's mother snorted.

"Of course, I don't. unlike two people in this room I won't name, I'm not giving up on him just because it's gotten hard." Asitai ignored the twin glares the parents gave him. "I know Mirai better than anyone, and I know he'll be alright. He's a fighter." He tried not to laugh at his own joke, but the one nurse gave a small smile like he understood. "He's not going to go quietly."

The room was silent for a few moments until the nurse that caused all this cleared her throat.

"I beg your pardon." She began. "I know you want that to be true, but he's been in a coma for over two decades. If he _does_ wake up…what kind of life will he have?"

"The life with me I promised him when we were kids." Asitai responded. "He'll need to relearn a lot of things, and new things. Yes, it will be like he's a teenager again. But I'm not going to give up on him for that." He tried to reign in his anger. Being calm wasn't his thing, but he needed to be in this situation or the judge would turn on him faster than Seimei turned on Septimal Moon. "For better or for worse, that's how it goes, right?"

"The fact that his parents were not informed makes me uneasy. And the fact that you're so close to your own patient raises eyebrows for a conflict of interest." The doctor informed. "You knew who his parents were, and deliberately didn't inform them of their son's condition."

"Yes, I know what I did." Asitai nodded. "I did what I had to do to protect him. He was always protecting me. Now it's my turn."

He could practically hear the one nurse thinking _protecting you was his job, idiot_.

The judge nodded. "I think I've heard all I need to hear." He informed. "I'm going to consider the facts in my decision. Just one more question. Doctor Yume."

"Hai?" Yume responded.

"When people fall into comas, they usually don't wake up after an unusual amount of time such as this, correct?"

"There have been cases where a person has survived comas this long, even longer." Yume stated. "A six-year-old girl in 1941 fell into a coma that lasted thirty-seven years and eleven days. Then of course the is the ten-year long case of Terri Schiavo, who passed away when a Judge granted her husband the right to take her off life support. Sunny Von Bulow survived over twenty-seven years in a coma, but cardio-pulmonary arrest was what ended her life in the end."

"All those cases have ended in death, Doctor."

"Yes." Yume sighed. "It is common for those who fall into comas to pass away while in their coma from complications. But as you can see, there have been no complications, not even a common cold."

 _Of course not, dumbass. This was a spell, not some medical problem!_ Asitai thought to himself.

"Terry Wallis is a notable exception, awaking after being in a coma for nineteen years. Jan Grzebski also survived a nineteen-year coma, but a heart attack killed him two days later. Ayanda Nqinana of Africa awoke after a seven-year coma." Yume prattled on. "It is not a death sentence, but long-term coma survivals are rare…"

"That's more information then I needed, son." The judge informed. "I'll be back with my decision."

He left with the bailiff. The nurses were quick to urge Mirai's parents out of the room so that they wouldn't conflict with Asitai. His mother yanked her arm from a nurse.

"So, we have you to thank." She told Asitai icily.

"Excuse me?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"My son." She nodded towards him. "We have you to thank for him falling down a path of sin, hm?"

"Are you…accusing me of turning your son gay?" Asitai snorted. "That's not possible. You two really are ignorant."

She huffed and turned on her heel. "All I know is you were with my son when he fainted and didn't bother to inform us what happened because of your own prejudices."

" _My_ prejudices?" Asitai put a palm on his chest. "Don't make me laugh! Mirai would have been home with _you,_ " He wouldn't have, but the witch didn't need to know that, "if you hadn't tossed him not the streets just because he prefers men over women. It's _your_ prejudices that left you with no god damn right to know what goes on with your son. I love him for who he is. Maybe you should try doing the same."

His father glared. "That's enough out of you." He complained. "Whatever happened to our son is your fault, as is his current state."

 _Don't you think I don't know that?! I never should have agreed to join Ritsu! If I hadn't joined him, we wouldn't have been in that battle and Mirai would be in my arms where he fucking belongs!_ Asitai thought, gritting his teeth.

"It has nothing to do with me. Just be thankful he was with me when it happened and not alone in the streets because of you."

"That's enough, Tai." Yume ordered. "Nurses, please direct the Shenai's out of the room."

"Yes, doctor."

All but the nurse that seemed responsive to Asitai's comments escorted the still arguing couple out of the room, even as his father hurled insults at the two of them that Asitai would have loved to run a red-hot spike through him for. No respect for their son, even in his current unfortunate state.

"They're going to pull the plug, aren't they?" The nurse asked, folding his arms over his chest and walking closer to them. "I'm sorry, but he's going to use you keeping this from his parents against you. I understand where you're coming from, sensei, I really do. But Mirai was a teenager when he fell into his coma…by legal rights, his parents should have bene notified."

"You saw their behavior first hand." Asitai reminded him. "They have no right to be her. Mirai would have lost his mind if they'd said those things in front of him. Blaming me…blaming _us…_ "

"I know it's unfair." Yume stated. "I hoped I helped with my list there, not hurt. It _is_ possible to wake from a long coma, there just aren't many documented cases."

"It was a spell, wasn't it?" The nurse asked Asitai. "That's why they can't find a cause, and why he's not waking up. We need the caster."

"What?" Yume wondered.

Asitai cocked an eyebrow. "How much do you know?"

"Enough to know who you are." The nurse informed. "And why _he's a Fighter_ is so god damn funny."

Asitai sighed, but smiled and chuckled. "I…had a feeling you knew more then you were letting on." He stated. "But yes, a spell…"

"And if the timing matches up, that was before the current SM took over, correct?"

Asitai nodded. "We were…fighting one of the old members…Mirai got some good shots in, but his last spell took a little too long to take over. They're no longer here to reverse it."

The nurse nodded. "I understand. My Sacrifice was taken from me…I know I shouldn't be here either, but…" He paused. "I couldn't bring myself to dishonor his member by doing myself in."

Asitai nodded. "Understandable."

"Going to report me, doctor?"

He laughed. "I could care less. SM isn't my main focus. Mirai is." He ran a hand through his boyfriend's hair, something in him telling him that this would be one of the last times he'd be able to do so. "He's going to side with the parents…I know that but…I'm still not giving up on him."

"What in the world are the two of you talking about?" Yume cocked an eyebrow. "Spell? Fighting?"

"It's…a long story." Asitai gripped the bond between the two of them, though only he and the nurse could see it.

"Your bond…" The nurse's eyes widened. "You know he's going to wake up because…"

Asitai nodded. "It's not like he told me. Consciously, he can't connect to me. But if he was going to die, our bond would end. I can contact him, I just won't get a response. If I hit a wall, then I'd know. But I can't say that, because they'll think I'm crazy."

"I'm starting to question your sanity, myself, Tai." The doctor shook his head. "Can you explain? Maybe not to them, but to me? For old time's sake?"

Asitai bit his lip, unsure. "I shouldn't. It's not something I announce. I work so hard to keep that part of my life separate from my work."

"I'll explain, doctor. It's relatively simple." The nurse stated. "They're a Unit, destined to be together, whether that's in a romantic way or not. Mirai's the fighter that uses spells, and Asitai is the sacrifice that gives orders and takes damage. I know we aren't supposed to tell outsiders, civilians, but he has the right to know just what he's looking at."

"There was no hope of waking him in the first place, was there?"

"That's why none of the medications we gave him worked." Asitai stated. "Why they never will…"

He held Mirai's hand, running his fingers through his hair again. "I don't want to talk doom and gloom, but I've always hoped it would just…wear off."

"You know as well as I do that spells don't just wear off."

"Like I said…I hoped…"

The door opened, and everyone filed in again. Mirai's parents glared where their hands met and Asitai's fingers ran through their son's brown hair.

"I have made my decision." The Judge informed. "The patient is not suffering, that much is clear. He's being kept in excellent health, I applaud you all for that." He paused. "However, it's been two decades, and he shows no signs of improvement." Asitai's heart fell. "I think it is in his best interest that we comply with his parents' wishes to have life support removed. If he continues to do well, then I think we have a miracle. However, I don't see that happening, given how rare it is for one to wake from a coma. Those were excellent examples you provided, doctor, and I did some research to make sure you were right. I am pleased with what I found, but I don't think that applies here. We have no cause for this, and no idea when or if he will even wake up permanently. I'm sorry, son." He looked directly at Asitai. "But you may want to say your final goodbyes."

The redhead just stared, vision clouding by tears that refused to fall. Mirai's parents looked triumphant, like they'd just won some great award. He wanted to scream at them, to let them know just how heartless they were and how much they'd hurt their son by their words and actions. He wanted to curse the tattle-tale nurse to hell and back for bringing them in and causing all this. But he couldn't. For the first time in his life, as much rage as there was boiling just underneath his skin, he was silent. The Fighter-nurse stood a little closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. If the nurse knew who he was, he knew that there was an outburst coming.

"Nurse, would you please..."

"Please." Asitai broke in. "Allow me…please…let me say a few things first…"

"Tai…" Yume spoke.

"You're right, I'm responsible…I never should have agreed to come here and visit friends. If I had, we would have been closer to home. Maybe then…maybe then things would be different." He glared at his parents. "The two of you are going to rot in hell for what you've done to your son…"

"Asitai…" Yume warned, but it wasn't of much use.

Once Calmless got started, he wasn't going to stop until he was done. The nurse seemed to know this, because he just sighed and leaned unprofessionally against the wall, checking his watch.

"And _you_." Asitai turned to the tattle-tale nurse. "Why couldn't you have minded your own god damn business? Your job is to help patients, not encourage killing them."

She flushed. "It's not in his best interest. He's _suffering_ …"

" _How_? How in the world is he _suffering?_ He has had _no_ complications and hasn't caught _any_ illnesses. He doesn't show any signs on pain and he is responding positively to the treatments we are attempting."

"If still not waking up is your idea of responding positively, then you're in the wrong profession, doctor."

"That is enough." Yume scolded both of them.

Asitai saw red. " _I'm_ in the wrong profession? You called two people who clearly don't give a rat's flying _ass_ whether their _adult_ child lives or dies to determine his fate. Just because there's no ring on his finger, that doesn't mean they have more of a right to decide what to do than I do. I know Mirai better than any of you, and he wouldn't want them here, nor would he want any of us to just _give up on him_."

"Doctor Kunugi, you have made your point clear, but my decision is final." The judge informed.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Asitai wondered. "I'm on a panel that spends most of their time debating policy and procedure and making up their rules and laws as they see fit to their own pointless agendas. You think I don't know how rulings work?"

"Kunugi-sensei." The nurse warned.

"Don't sensei me, I don't want to hear it." Asitai scolded the nurse. "You're making a mistake here. I hope you can all live with yourselves after this ridiculousness. Everything was _fine_ until you two showed up and decided to pretend you give a damn about him. If you cared about him, you wouldn't have thrown him out into the cold with an hour to get his stuff and get out just because you didn't like the fact that he'd rather be with _me_ then some broad."

"We are dragging this out too long for my liking." Mirai's father informed, folding his arms over his chest. "Can we get this over with?"

The judge nodded. "Nurse, if you'd kindly take the patient off life support."

"No." Asitai stated. "If you're going to pull the plug, then they need to get the hell out of here. If you're going to murder my boyfriend, then at least let Mirai pass away surrounded by people that care about him and actually want him to live."

The judge and Yume shared a look, but the doctor shrugged.

"He has a point. I don't think Mirai would appreciate his parents' presence if he were awake." He looked to the nurse that had called them. "And you can get the hell out of my sights. You're lucky I don't fire you for insubordination and going over our heads with this."

"Understandable concerns. Would the three of you mind waiting in the other room?" The Judge asked. "Let them have their privacy, please."

Mirai's parents protested, but the bailiff helped usher them out the door. He stood just inside the doorway, so they couldn't get past him.

"Sensei." He spoke. "Who is going to do it?"

"I will." Yume stated. "I know you can't bring yourself to do it, Tai, and I'd rather have you with him."

Asitai nodded. "Do what you will…"

Yume pat him on the shoulder and went to where the outlet was. "Nurse, could you please remove the patient's feeding tube? And the oxygen tube?"

"Yes, sir." The two remaining non-Fighter nurses made quick work of removing the feeding tube.

The oxygen tube was the next to go. Asitai felt himself go numb. Yume pulled the chords on a few different machines, switched a couple others off completely. The redhead stared at Mirai intently, hoping to see any sign of life. His chest moving on its own, his eyes fluttering. Anything.

"What's done is done." The Judge stated as Yume took his place next to Asitai again. "Now we just wait and see what happens."

"I'll go grab a crash cart just in case." One of the nurses left the room, but it was painfully obvious that she was just overcome by emotions and needed a few moments away to collect herself.

"Well…he's not crashing…" The fighter-nurse looked at the one monitor left on to monitor his vitals. "That's a good sign."

"Yes, but for how long…"

Minutes that felt like hours went by as they just stood around and waited. At one point, Yume had fallen asleep standing up, head on one of Asitai's shoulders. The Sacrifice couldn't say he _minded_ , but he did want to touch Mirai's hand, hair, face, _anything_ to assure himself that he was still there, and he wasn't just hallucinating or wasting his time. The heart monitor beeped slowly as his heart rate stayed steady. The nurse who had left to get a crash cart had returned and was now leaning on it to keep herself awake. The Fighter-nurse was busying himself with a magazine about motorcycles, making Asitai wonder if they had anything to do with his Sacrifice's death he hadn't elaborated on. The judge was looking over papers for another case with the bailiff. Mirai's parents and the other nurse hadn't tried to come in, and at one point had all left for food. The Fighter-nurse gently moved Asitai out of the way and let Yume's head rest on his shoulder instead.

"I know you want to." He said softly, being the first to speak in well over an hour. "Go ahead."

Asitai nodded and pulled over the chair he always sat in when he came to visit Mirai.

"Hey you…" He greeted, sitting and laying his head next to Mirai's head. He kissed the knuckles, hoping it was annoying his parents. He'd never forgive the bastards for this. "It's been a few hours…the feeding and oxygen tubes are gone…I tossed your parents out. Yume got rid of the nurse that just _had_ to open her big frigging mouth…Rai, I know you're in there somewhere, baby…please…" he closed his eyes. "All I ask is that you open your eyes for me…move a finger. Breathe… _something_ …"

The fact that he didn't appear to be breathing but somehow still _was_ hadn't hit the doctor yet. A nurse had tried to point it out but was hushed by her companion.

"You're going to be oaky. I don't care what they say. You're my Fighter…I know you better than anyone. You're not just going to give up. You're not going to just leave me. You can't…it's not in you to leave me by myself. You made that clear from the day I met you…I'll never forget that day, you know, and I hope you weren't either…Mirai…please…make a decision for me…open your eyes…"

The heart monitor started beeping a little faster, making Asitai sit up quickly. "Mirai…? Are you…?"

The Fighter-nurse rushed to the monitor, leaving Yume to tumble to the floor and wake up in time to barely catch himself.

"What…?" The doctor wondered.

"This isn't good, sensei." The Fighter-nurse informed. "He's not responding well."

"No…he's waking up…he has to be…"

"Sensei…"

A loud warning beeping started sounding from one of the machines.

"He's crashing." Yume announced. "Nurses, crash cart. Stat."

"No, no, no…he can't be…" Asitai argued, grabbing his Fighter by the shoulders. "Mirai, don't you give up on me…come on…!"  
Yum wrestled him away. "Tai, let them do what they have to do, or we are _going to lose him_."

The nurses prepared the paddles. "Clear!" One announced, then the other hit him with the paddles.

Mirai's body bounced, but his vitals weren't stabilizing.

"Clear!"

The judge shook his head sadly, as if he was expecting this to happen but wasn't fully prepared for it.

"Mirai, come _on_! This isn't funny!" Asitai tried to pull Yume off him, but even the Fighter-nurse was trying to hold him back. "Wake up, Mirai, wake up! Please!"

"Sensei, calm down…!" Fighter-nurse ordered.

"You know damn well I can't!" Asitai argued. "It's in my fucking _name_." He tried to pull away again. "Mirai, please, wake up!"

He could barely hear the door opening so Mirai's parents could listen in while the others were distracted.

"Please, don't' let your parents win this. Don't die on me! You've got a lot to see in the world, still! You're not going to die on me here!" Asitai complained as Yume and the fighter-nurse practically dragged him to the other side of the room so he'd be out of the way as a couple more nurses and another Doctor came in.

"What in the world is going on?" He looked at Yume. "What are you and…?"

"If I let him go, he gets in the way." Yume informed.

"Don't make me use a spell." The fighter-nurse whispered. "Please, sensei, I don't want to hurt you anymore than they already have."

"I don't care how hurt I get." Asitai growled. "Knock me out, tie me down, beat me into submission…do whatever the _hell_ you want to me. Just don't take Mirai away! It was _my_ idea to join Ritsu, not his. I should have listened to him, then he'd still be alright…you hear me, Mirai! Wake up! Mirai, I'm so sorry…! I dragged you into this. It's my fault…wake up…please wake up…" He was shaking as tears fell and his voice cracked.

"We're losing him." One of the original nurses stated as the new ones took over. "It doesn't look good…"

"Mirai!" Asitai cried. "Please! Wake up…! That's a _god damn order_!" His voice cracked as Yume looked at him strangely. "You're not allowed to leave me, do you hear? Don't leave me here alone! Wake your ass up…Shenai Mirai, _wake_ _up_!"

000

Asitai woke up in a cold sweat, screaming Mirai's name to the heavens. The body next to him stirred, quickly sitting up.

"What? What's going on?" Mirai wondered. "Tai? Tai, are you okay?" He shook his master.

Asitai tried to calm his breathing, clutching at his chest. "Dream…it's a dream…you're here with me. You're here, you're safe…" He pulled Mirai into a tight hug and buried his face into his hair, breathing in the rich scent of his blueberry shampoo. "You're here…"

"Of course I'm here…" Mirai wrapped his arms around the doctor's midsection. "I've been awake for a year and a half, love."

"I had a dream…a nurse…called your parents…judge took you off support…you crashed on me…I couldn't get you to wake up…"

Who in the world was that Fighter-nurse? He looked a little familiar, but he wasn't someone Asitai knew from the hospital. It was probably just a culmination of Fighters he knew and trusted rolled into one, no one real and no one significant.

"It's okay…" Mirai cooed. "I'm here, I'm alive. You're here and alive. We're together. My parents could never get in the way." He pulled away and took Asitai's face in his hands. "I promise you."

They kissed, soft and slow. Asitai pulled away. "It was just so real, Rai…I…" He sighed. "It was just a dream, though. This is reality, _our_ reality."

"That's right just a dream." Mirai nodded. "I'm not going anywhere. Like I'd ever leave you here alone, jerk."

"Yeah…" Asitai's pager went off and he groaned. "Looks like the hospital needs me."

"Surprise." Mirai chuckled, rubbing his back. "Go. I'll be here when you get back. I'll get some laundry and some cleaning done, maybe stop over at the school and see Ritsuka a bit. He said he was coming up."

Since he'd woken up, the Septimal Moon member he'd taken to most was Ritsuka. He was only fifteen or sixteen now, but he took his brother's seat over a couple of years before. Asitai was the first one he'd come out to, with a little help from the doctor to get him to realize just how much in love with Soubi he was, and they were pretty close as well. He was there when Mirai woke up, and the two conversed on the phone often. Considering Mirai was the same person he was when he fell into his coma at sixteen, it wasn't a surprise he was bonding with someone so close in age.

"Alright." Asitai stood and got ready. "Don't work yourself too hard, alright?"

"That's something I should be saying to _you_ , isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Asitai chuckled and kissed his lover on the tip of the nose. "I'll see you soon."

Mirai nodded. "Soon."

They kissed before Asitai left to the living room. He slipped on his shoes and hurried out the apartment door. The walk to the hospital was short, but it felt longer. He really didn't want to go into work, but he knew he was needed and would have to get over it. He walked through the front doors and was instantly greeted by the receptionist.

"Good morning, Doctor!" She greeted, handing him a folder. "This was left for you by Yume. He wanted you to get to it right away when you got in."

He took it and flipped it open to look through as he walked. "I'll get right on it. Thank you."

She bowed slightly, but he didn't see as he immersed himself in the case file and walked away. He bumped into someone and backed up to apologize.

"Sorry." He looked up to see who it was and was both surprised and angered to see Mirai's father. "You…"

"I'm sorry!" A woman's voice cried, and his father bowed.

Asitai shook his head and soon Mirai's father was gone and replaced by a young girl he didn't know.

"Oh, it's alright." Asitai greeted. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine." She flushed. "I was on my phone. I didn't see you. Gomen!"

"I was reading, myself. Don't worry about it. Have a good day."

"Th-thank you! You too!"

He moved around her, shaking his head. How did he think that a young girl was Mirai's _father_? Was the dream messing with him that much?

"Tai!" Yume greeted from the top of the staircase. "Would you hurry up and stop flirting with young women? I don't think your fiancé would approve!"

"Bite me!" Asitai argued as he started up the stairs. "Say, I have a question for you."

"If it isn't about the boy in 12 B, I don't really want to hear it."

"It's important."

"I'm not helping you with wedding stuff either."

"No!" Asitai huffed, blowing a strip or bright red hair from his eyes. "You know anything about dreams?"

"Just about as much as anyone else. Why?"

They started walking.

"I had a dream involving Mirai's parents…"

"And…?"

"I swear, that girl I bumped into, looked like his father."

"You think it has something to do with your dream?" Yume laughed. "Sorry, Tai, but I don't think so. You're just hallucinating. Sleep enough or did your favorite former patient keep you up all night?" He winked.

Asitai shoved him. "Shut up." He said. "I'm just being foolish…you're right."

"I know I am."

Asitai drowned the other doctor out as he went over the patient's medical charts. He'd already read it, so he didn't have to hear about it again. The dream just freaked him out enough that he was starting to see things. He was fine. Mirai's parents weren't around. They had no reason to be. No one gave them any information regarding Mirai. Even his own younger sister kept the information secret from him once she found out. She was also there when he woke up, and it was like a light was brought back into her life. She'd hated her father for tossing Mirai out like he did. He couldn't blame her and, in fact, respected her. Someone shoulder bumped him, and he woke from his daydreaming.

"Sorry!" A man's voice came out of Mirai's mother's mouth. "I'm in a rush!"

"It's fine." Asitai waved her off as her image faded into a man who appeared to be a visitor.

Not another one.

"That was a male, right? Not Mirai's mother…?"

"What? Again? Yeah, that wasn't his mother. Now would you listen to me? The CAT scan showed nothing to worry about, but I'm still a little concerned, because…"

He zoned out again. Was this going to happen every time he made physical contact with someone? He grabbed Yume's coat sleeve without meaning to.

"What are you doing?"

No, it was still Yume; had been from the moment they met up earlier.

"Sorry, thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself."

Asitai rolled his eyes. That joke was getting old.

"Look, if your head isn't into this, Tai, go home and rest. That dream clearly hit you a little harder than it should have."

"I'll be fine."

"Don't try to pull one over on me. I can get Akemi in here for this one."

"I swear, I'll…"

A screaming woman's voice that sounded a lot like Mirai's mother caught his attention. A couple downstairs were arguing with the receptionist. It looked like Mirai's parents. Asitai grabbed Yume by the arm and dragged him over.

"Do you see them?"

"Yes?"

"What do you see?"

"Obnoxious idiots that are about to get security called on them."

" _Yume_."

"Okay, okay. Blonde woman with green eyes in a leather coat like yours, black haired male with brown eyes with no coat on."

"I see a brunette woman, blue eyes and a sweater-vest on. Brunette male with brown eyes and a cardigan."

"You're seeing his parents again?"

Asitai nodded. "This is really messing with my head…this dream…"

"I think you either need to get your head examined or go home to your future bride. You're overworking yourself, I know you are. He's awake. There's no need to spend so much time here anymore."

"Yeah…maybe you're right." He looked at Mirai's parents again and they were replaced with the people in Yume's description. "Now I see what you see."

"So, its temporary. Good to know." Yume pulled a little flashlight from his pocket and shone it in Asitai's eyes. "You're focused."

"And blinded." Asitai batted it away.

"No fever." Yume placed the back of his hand against Asitai's forehead. "Go home. You're not okay."

"My eyes and temp are fine, but I'm not?"

"No, something is bothering you and you need to address it before it consumes you. Go home and talk to Mirai."

"He went to see a friend. He isn't home."

"So, you join him. Just get out of here. Go. Doctor's orders." He chuckled.

Asitai rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll go home. But once I'm fixed, I'm coming right back here."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, Tai."

He nodded, leaving Yume alone in the hall.

"Excuse me?" A young girl's voice asked. "But can you point me to the elevator?"

A miniature version of Mirai's father stood next to him.

"Uh, yeah, that way. Right at the next hall."

"Thank you!" She skipped away, skirt coming into focus as it flounced away.

His father was gone as she left. Asitai shook his head and kept walking.

"Ah, Kunugi, greetings! Heading home early? Or is it late?' Mirai's mother wondered, slinging an arm around his shoulders. "I can never tell if you've been here all night."

"Mirai isn't a patient here, so I'm home every night with him." Asitai stated, watching at the face morphed into a male nurse.

"Makes sense, I guess. Then get on home, lover boy. If you're sick, feel better."

"I don't know what I am." Kunugi paused. "But I have an idea. Thank you."

He brushed the other off and changed direction to head towards the pharmaceutical department. As he fast-walked there, he passed several more of each of Mira's parents, some together but most separate. He shook his head. He was going to go nuts if he had to see this all day. Damn dream, damn dream! He entered the ward and paused as he saw a nurse that looked _very_ familiar. He'd never seen him before, but he knew the face from his dream. He grabbed the nurse's arm and dragged him out into the hallway.

"What's going on with you, sensei?" The nurse wondered.

"I'm hallucinating."

"Oh?"

"I had a nightmare last night. Now I'm hallucinating."

"I don't know how I can help with that…I can't just give you medicine…"

"No, but you're a Fighter."

The other went pale. "How did…you…?"

"It's not important." Asitai shook his head. "I need you to get rid of it. I was going to just get medicine from one of the senior staff, but this works better. I need the hallucination gone so I can function. Can you give me a spell? Please?"

"I…shouldn't use my spells for someone who isn't my Sacrifice…but she's gone…I guess…just this once…"

"Thank you." Asitai grinned. "Go ahead."

" _Visions clear. Free this man from your crippling grip._ "

Asitai saw little gold flakes flittering around him, gone as quickly as they came.

"Better?"

"I don't know yet."

Asitai yanked him down to one of the more populated areas of the hospital and looked around. He didn't see either of Mirai's parents in anyone that he looked at. He took a step into foot traffic and was collided with a nurse. Her eyes went wide. "Kunugi-sensei! Oh my god, gomen, gomen! I didn't see you. Are you okay?"

He grinned. "I'm fine. Are you?"

She nodded. "I-I think so…"

"Good! Sorry about that." He backed up.

"You're okay…?" The nurse wondered. "Wait, Kunugi…you're Septimal Moon."

"Yeah, I am."

"O-Oh! I'm sorry for hesitating. If I'd known, I would have just…"

"It's alright, you did well." Asitai pat him on the head. "How long have you been working here?"

"About a year?" The nurse scratched the back of his head. "It all kind of runs together. After my beloved passed away, I moved here."

 _Beloved_ …

"I see. I'm sorry for your loss." Kunugi pat him on the shoulder. "You're my new best friend here, got that? You need anything, come to me."

"Y-Yes, sensei, of course, sensei! Thank you!" he bowed.

"Now run along, get back to work. I should do the same. Thank you for your help."

"You're very welcome."

Kunugi pulled out his phone as it rang. "Hello?"

"Kunugi, meet us at the library. Something is going on…did you have a nightmare lately?" Ritsu wondered.

His blood ran cold. "I did. Last night."

"And you hallucinated when you woke up?"

"Yes."

"As did the rest of us. Save for Aoyagi. He seems unaffected yet."

He heard Ritsuka protest and couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, I'm leaving work now. I'll be there soon. Mirai was going to swing by the school to see Ritsuka, so he's probably on his way."

"Alright."

The phone went dead as Kunugi went into a dead zone of the hospital. So, the rest of Septimal Moon was plagued by this as well. His eyes narrowed. This couldn't have been a coincidence. It had to have been something big to affect them all like this. And to spare Ritsuka-so far-only pointed to one person. The Fighter-nurse's words rang in his head.

"Beloved…"

Asitai used his bond to alert Mirai of the situation as he practically bolted out of the building towards home. If he was right, Aoyagi had sunk to a new low; even for him.


	7. Kaido Chouma

Dlbn: Hello everyone! We planned on updating yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but I passed out after work yesterday, so that didn't happen.

Nbld: Also, this was half done last night. We'll update again later tonight after work with another chapter.

Dlbn: Which I'm going to start right after I post this one.

Nbld: So, let's hop into the Review Corner! Thank you to Promocat, The DarkCat, and Messy bookshelf for reviewing! Candy for you all!

Promocat: They're the last two, yes, but there's one more before them. I'm debating whether to end with Ritsuka or Seimei. Depends which one comes to me easier, I guess.

The DarkCat: Normally I go with horror, but I think suspense works as well. I had in my head how he'd react to Mirai being taken off life support since I wrote _Calmless_ , but obviously that one has a happier ending. I'm glad you're enjoying so much! Hope you enjoy this next chapter as well!

Messy bookshelf: For the most part, everyone is an OC. Kunugi _is_ the last name of a Septimal Moon member in the series. I think its Nagisa or Seven that says his name when listing members. He and Mirai are featured in my story _Calmless_ , which is a side story for _Careless_ , where I debuted them. Hope that helps a little bit ^^" Suspense and horror go hand in hand for me. I couldn't think of something Kunugi would fear other than Mirai never waking up, so I went with it. I agree. There're a couple horror games about hospitals, I believe. Silent Hill has a hospital area, I think, since there are the nurses in it. Haven't played, so not sure. I'm glad you liked even if my characters were a little random there. More familiar characters appear here and the next two.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All characters used are part of Loveless and therefore belong to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off writing this.

000

Awaking in a hospital room and strapped down securely to a cold, semi-metal gurney wasn't her idea of a good time. Chouma's head was foggy and hazy as she tried to look around the room she was in. It had to be a hospital room in Septimal Moon's medical wing. There were machines along the walls and IVs imbedded in her skin. The pale walls contrasted slightly with the one-degree-different shade of the ceiling. The floors under her were black and white tiles, but she couldn't see them from how she was strapped down. Thick leather straps crossed her chest, wrists just above the IVs, her ankles, and even her head. She tried to pull from the straps to be able to move at least her head, but they were tightly bound. She sighed. What she wouldn't give to be a Fighter, so she could force her way out. Though they'd probably wire her mouth shut so she couldn't do anything. That was one of Moonless' MO's, if no one else higher up had ordered it. She heard the door open and feigned sleep again. She felt a hand on her wrist and let one eye slip open to see who the hand belonged to.

"Ah, you're awake!" Nagisa's overly happy voice rang through her ears. "About time! I was worried we gave you too much sedative."

"What's going on?" Chouma found her voice was almost gone as she opened her other eye.

Nagisa was wearing a slightly bloodstained lab coat over what was likely some ornate Lolita-style dress. The nurse always did have strange style for a thirty-something year old. She was almost like a cheerleader who refused to believe her glory days were over after high school and continued with the same teenage trends she'd been obsessed with in years prior. It was pathetic sometimes, but Chouma had a feeling she only did that to keep in touch with her childhood; when she was happier, and her sister wasn't dead.

"What do you think, silly?" She wondered. "You collapsed after a meeting yesterday, hit your head on the desk. You're lucky you didn't lose a lot of blood or you may not be her right now."

"You're full of shit." Chouma accused. "I don't just collapse!"

"With that neuropathy in your legs, it's a miracle you don't collapse more _often_." Nagisa chided. "You really should see a neurologist, dear."

"Because to the public, I don't exist. That makes any sense."

"I'm sure Kunugi could get someone in here that knows what they're doing and will keep their mouths shut." Nagisa tapped her chin in thought. "Or someone we could force into submission and silence. I mean, Soubi-kun knows that memory erasing spell, doesn't he?"

"Like Seimei would let you use it for your own gain."

Nagisa cocked an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten? Agatsuma Soubi is no longer under Seimei's employ. Unless Seimei were _alive_ somehow."

"Huh…force of habit to think of Seimei when you think of Onii-chan, I suppose."

Nagisa hummed in response and looked over Chouma's medical charts. "Oh my, this is troubling."

"What?"

"According to this, you're almost completely paralyzed…but that lack of feeling…you wouldn't even know the pain you should be in."

Chouma laughed, an uneasy, maniacal sound to anyone that knew her well enough. Luckily, that short list included Seimei and his Fighter and not Nagisa.

"You're off your rocker. Whether or not I know my pain levels, if I were paralyzed, I wouldn't be able to even move."

"Tr lifting your leg."

"You strapped me down to this thing. I _can't_."

"Ah…" Nagisa flushed and took one of the ankle cuffs off. "Go ahead."

Chouma's toes tingled as she tried to lift her leg up even slightly. It didn't budge. "I…what…?" She wondered, trying a few more times. "What did…what dd you do to me…?"

"Absolutely nothing." There was a sadistic undertone in Nagisa's voice. "I'm not about to free your arm and test it, but you're paralyzed at least from the waist down. Your head appears to move." She tapped on Chouma's other foot. "Feel anything?"

"No…"

Nagisa tapped up and down both legs, but Chouma shook her head. It took her another moment to realize that she was shivering. Was it fear or anger? Frustration or anxiety? She didn't know, but all those feelings and more were welling up in her chest at once.

"Randomly collapsing is part of my disorder." Chouma growled. "Becoming completely _paralyzed_ is not…"

Nagisa shrugged. "Manifests differently in everyone, I guess."

"Like hell it does!"

"What are you trying to say?" Nagisa cocked an eyebrow. "You think something happened to you while you were out? Why, Chouma, that's ridiculous."

She struggled against her bonds the best she could. "Nagisa…what the _hell_ did you do?"

" _I_ did absolutely nothing."

"It's nothing personal, dear." A male voice greeted. "Just a necessary precaution."

"What…?" She blinked. "Kunugi…right…? That's who you are, right?"

The strap holding her head down was removed and shew as able to look around more. Her eyes landed on a redhead in a lab coat looking over some reports in a manila folder.

"Yes, that would be me." He greeted, flicking two fingers off his temple in a wave. "Sorry for taking so long to announce my presence. Rude of me, I'm aware."

She glared. "You're a neurosurgeon, aren't you…?"

"Um, yes, everyone knows that." Kunugi scratched at his bangs, confused. "Why do you ask?"

"I have a neurological disorder that shouldn't cause me to be paralyzed…"

"I see…?"

"And I'm tied down to a hospital gurney with no ability to move and barely any ability to speak…and you think I'm not going to find something _suspicious_ about this?"

"Uh, no, I had hoped you wouldn't."

Nagisa rolled her eyes. "Idiot."

"If you know who I am, then you know that _stupid_ isn't in my vocabulary." Chouma informed. "You assholes did something to me, didn't you?"

The doctors exchanged a look. Finally, Kunugi shrugged.

"No harm in telling the girl. It's not like she can do anything about it anyway. She's an unpaired Sacrifice." Kunugi offered.

"Fine, but when she uses that naivety against you, don't come crawling to me for help or sympathy." Nagisa snorted.

"Telling me _what_ , exactly…?"

Kunugi sighed. "Your paralysis wasn't caused by your condition flaring up." He stated. "In fact, it has nothing to do with you at all."

"What are…?" Realization hit hard. "You…you made me this way…you're a neurosurgeon…you should know what causes neuropathy and paralysis…"

"Hai, I can't argue now that the cat's out of the bag. You're right. Your paralysis is manmade."

"But…why…? Of all the things you could do to me…why…?"

"You'll be a burden if Seimei ever calls upon you." Nagisa informed. "We know you're a close ally of his. If you can't move, you're useless."

"You bastards…!" Chouma cried, struggling against her bonds. "You paralyzed me so that Seimei won't have any use for me? You sick, sadistic…"

"Come, now, that would be a very petty reason." Kunugi stated. "We paralyzed you to prevent you from being useful to Seimei, yes, but also to prevent you from causing more damage to us then you're worth."

"More damage then I'm…huh…?" She paused for a moment. "You don't have a real reason, do you. This is just your idea of a cruel joke…"

"If it's a joke, then it's a poor one." Seimei greeted as he entered the room.

"Seimei…?" She blinked in confusion as the two doctors just stared at him.

She expected more of a reaction out of them, since he was supposed to be dead. Did they know already? What was wrong with…?

"Good evening, dear." Seimei smirked. "How nice of you to join us, finally."

"Join…us…?" Her eyes narrowed. "You made them do this…"

"To be fair, Nisei did." Seimei pointed out. "I can't do anything on my own, and Septimal Moon certainly wouldn't join me willingly, would they?" He pat Kunugi on the cheek and poked Nagisa's nose. "But enough about my Fighter."

"Why…?" She wondered, mouth drying up suddenly. "Why would you do this to me? We're allies. Allies, damn it!"

"Why indeed." Seimei sighed. "You and I were always on the same wave length, weren't we? Always conveniently thinking alike, planning alike. So, tell me…what was I thinking this time, Chouma?"

She just stared. "Even Faceless can't figure you out." She commented. "How do you expect me to?"

"When we met, wasn't the point of everything you said and did to prove to me how much like-minded we were?" His eyebrow quirked. "How can you claim we're so much alike and not know what I'm thinking, what I'm planning?"

"You…stopped me from being able to leave…" She paused. "You're afraid I'm going to up and leave you high and dry, is that it? The great Aoyagi Seimei is _afraid_ of something?"

He glared as if her words hurt but he didn't want her to know. "You're…not on the wrong path."

"So, I'm right." She shook her head. "You know I'd never just up and leave you, Seimei. We need each other, right? We can't make our empire without one another, right? That's what we've discussed for so long. What we've agreed on."

Seimei shrugged. "I don't need anyone but Ritsuka, in the end. The two of us together can overthrow Septimal Moon. You're just a convenient placeholder."

She gaped. "You can't be _serious_! He doesn't even _want_ to join you! At least I'm trying to _help_ you here."

"You had to know this was coming. There isn't a single ally we haven't turned our backs on." Nisei suddenly piped up from the doorway, where he stood and typed on his personal laptop.

"If you want to win, you need more than just you and a boy that doesn't want to be involved! When Ritsuka finally grows the balls to tell you to piss off, who are you going to turn to? You'll be on your own, Seimei. You can't _do_ this on your own."

She flinched as a scalpel was stabbed into the bed next to her head, dangerously close to cutting off a few inches of her of lime-green hair. She turned to see Seimei leaning down unnecessarily close to her, an evil glint in his eye.

"Don't mention my brother in such regard. In fact, don't mention him at all." He stood, leaving the scalpel where it was as a poorly veiled threat against her life.

He'd used a knife to carve his name into Soubi's neck. There was no telling what he'd do to her if she pissed him off. Soubi had asked for pain in the first place, so it was his own damn fault, but she knew what happened to those who faced Seimei's wrath. Sometimes she wondered who was more sadistic. The Executioner, or Beloved.

"You know I'm right." She spoke softly. "You _need_ me…"

"Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't." He shrugged one shoulder. "Only time will tell. But, in the end, once these two wake from their spell," he waved a hand in front of Nagisa's non-blinking eyes. "even once they realize what they've done, they won't be able to reverse it." He chuckled. "Poor Kunugi…so devoted to helping people in the name of that useless boyfriend of his," she could swear she saw Kunugi's lip twitch in annoyance, "yet he's managed to purposefully injure someone using his own skills. Tragic, I suppose. To go from a hero to the villain."

"You're terrible." Chouma giggled. "But, I suppose, so am I…so what are you going to do with me now, hm? Leave me her until the spell wears off so they can capture me and see what they've done?"

"Ah, so narrow minded you are, Kaido." Seimei snapped his fingers.

Nisei appeared to be annoyed that his work on the laptop was being interrupted, but with his fingers still flying over the keyboard, he brought in the wheelchair she'd been forcefully confined to by her colleagues. She didn't need it to move, but it was helpful when her legs felt like they were going to give out. In the end, Septimal Moon had only trapped her in it, so she couldn't go do anything they didn't want. She had a feeling they knew that she and Seimei were no different, yet it was him they feared more. She had to laugh. Her own Fighter had faced her wrath and no longer existed after a fateful incident, yet these idiots feared a _teenager_ who still retained his ears over her. Pathetic, laughable; just like Septimal Moon themselves. No killing _unless_ we sanction it and it's the Executioner doing it. Bunch of hypocrites.

"What's that for…?" She cocked an eyebrow, struggling to move her now bedsore right shoulder.

"You, obviously." Seimei informed. "You're lucky you're just a Sacrifice, or I would have had your jaw wired shut, as well."

Nisei chuckled, rubbing his own jaw as if just the thought of being wired shut made it hurt.

"I thought we were alike, Seimei…" She paused. "But now I realize…I'm nothing like you…"

"About time you came to that realization. No one is like me but me."

Nisei cleared his throat.

"He comes close, I suppose." Seimei rolled his eyes and gave his Fighter a look that just screamed that he was going to be punished later for his interruption. "But back to the topic at hand. I'm not leaving you here, of course. You're more valuable to me free then confined to Septimal Moon's dungeons."

"If I'm valuable, then why did you do this to me?"

"You were weak."

"You made me weaker!"

"But here's the beauty in this, Thoughtless." A dark chuckle. "Now you can never abandon me…you're going to need me."

"Just as much as you need me, right…?" She was hopeful.

"I need you…?" A pause. "For now, I guess, yes…until Ritsuka wises up and joins me. I won't have my brother on the losing side."

"What if we're the losing side?" Dread crept into her throat.

If this was what Seimei did to his allies, Bloodless and the others he'd recruited over the years were in for a rude awakening one day.

"I refuse to be on the losing side." Seimei argued. "We're not going to fall to that group of idiots."

"That group of idiots that managed to take over Septimal Moon as a group of teenagers with barely enough ability to get them through changing their underwear." Chouma pointed out. "They can handle an uprising because they _were_ an uprising. We're not dealing with novices!"

"You've always been so confident in me, in us, Chouma. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I wonder…will it be lonely at the top, Seimei? All alone with no one by your side? Akame and Onii-chan are as expendable as Bloodless and I are, as everyone is. You're going to throw away anyone you need to, to get to the top." Chouma paused. "When word gets out about what you've done to me…"

"No one will be any wiser in the end, Chouma. My hands are clean. As far as anyone knows, it was Septimal Moon's doing."

"You're…using me as a stepping stone…to get your people to believe you more…to give them more of a reason to hate Septimal Moon." She thrashed. "How could you do this to me?! To make an example of why to hate Septimal Moon out of me? I was the first person to believe in you…I approached you on my own! You _owe me_!"

"I owe you nothing!" He stalked closer, grabbing a fistful of her hair and tilting her head back to look up at him. "You knew who I was, what I am. And yet you still approached me! You still wanted me to join you, to ally with you…to toss aside Moonless for you! And I've done it all. I've done everything necessary to secure _our_ place in the end. If anything, you…owe…me…" He leaned closer to her with each word. "I am your saving grace here, Chouma. You'd never be able to do anything against them no your own, not without a Fighter. You need me a hell of a lot more then I need you. When will you come to realize it, hm? When the tides crash down and it's all over? When you're standing there in the end left holding the bag, alone and vulnerable to people not fit to do your laundry? I don't _need_ you. I could toss you aside as easily as I did Mikado and not even _blink_."

"Then why…when you say her name…why does it hurt you so much…?"

He growled and threw her head to the side, letting her go and wiping his hand on his pants like her touch disgusted him. Which it did, since he was a massive germaphobe. And human-phobic, if you really looked at it. Then again, only he and Ritsuka were human to him. Everyone else was as easily discarded as a forgotten class pet.

"You're delusional."

"No more so than you!"

He rolled his eyes. "You can't change what's happened. You'll be a martyr for the cause…isn't that enough? To be important for once in your insignificant life?"

"I refuse…" She snarled at her former ally. "I won't let you do this. You will not sue me like this…the others will see you for how you really are, who you really are…"

"Oh? And how, hm? When they're tossed aside in the end? It's a long time coming, Kaido."

"I'll tell them. Every last one. They'll all know that it wasn't Septimal Moon that did this. It was _you_. Aoyagi Seimei, Beloved, their master, their _savior_. That you did this to blind them, to rally them up over nothing and lead them to their deaths. You won't get away with this as long as I shall breathe."

He sighed, folding his arms over his chest. She heard Nisei close his laptop.

"I had hoped that it wouldn't resort to this, Chouma, I really did." Seimei spoke, his tone betraying his words. "I had hoped you'd go along with it, let them think it was Septimal Moon's fault. Because, in the end, it is. None of this would be happening if not for them."

"You can't even come up with a reason to hate them as much as you do…" Chouma muttered. "Thinking they're fools, unable to act in our people's best interest; sure. But you're not acting in the best interest of anyone but yourself, so what's the point? Either you're a hypocrite, or you're blind to your own ignorance."

"My reasons are my own." Seimei informed. "You're never going to understand, Chouma, because, in the end…you and I are nothing alike." He snapped his fingers. "You know what to do, Akame."

"Would it kill you to just call me by name for once?" The Fighter was a little too close to her for comfort. She felt his nimble fingers thread through her hair to hold her in place. "Nothing personal Thoughtless. Just doing my job, following orders, like a good little _dog_." He glared at Seimei at that.

"Shut up and do as you're told. We'll discuss your insubordination later."

"What are you making him to do to me, Seimei, hm? Kill me?"

Seimei chuckled. "You're much more valuable alive." He turned away from her. "You're just not going to remember."

Her eyes widened. No, anything but that! The last time Akame had used the spell, Aoyagi Ritsuka lost ten years of his life! The only one that could properly recite the spell was Soubi, now that his mother was deceased.

"Akame…I'll keep my mouth shut about what's gone on here if you just let me be…"

"You know I can't do that." He leaned down to her temple. "I have to do what Seimei wishes. Sorry, Chouma, but is my life against yours. I may be a masochist, but I don't despise myself enough that I want to die."

"Seimei wouldn't kill you…he needs you…"

Nisei smirked against her skin and whispered, "He needs you, and look how that's turned out."

Dread hit her as she realized that even Akame, someone she could usually charm into doing what she wanted or didn't want, wasn't going to be of any help.

"Please…Akame…"

" _ **Forget**_."

His fingers splayed open through her hair. She screamed and arched off the bed as much as she was able to with being paralyzed halfway down.

"Please, stop! Don't! I don't want to forget…I don't…"

Her voice faded into a small whimper as she went limp, head falling to the side. Before she fell unconscious, one thought crossed her mind. _I'll never forgive you, Seimei…I may forget…but you'll rue the day…you…betray…_

000

Chouma was woken up by a hand on her shoulder shaking her, screams still ripping from her throat.

"Kaido!" Akame's voice shouted. "Quit screaming, damn it! You woke up the whole house!"

"A-Akame…?" She looked up at him. "Where…where am I? What day is it…? I…?"

"You're in my apartment in Kyoto." Nisei responded. "It's Tuesday the thirtieth of October. What the hell is wrong with you? Seimei told me to wake your ass up."

Seimei. That name filled her with dread that she didn't know she could feel.

"Where…my wheelchair, where is it?"

"Back in Gora…?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Maybe you need more sleep. Frigging idiot…"

She threw the blankets off her and swung her legs. The floor under her feet felt cold. She laughed lowly as she stood up. Her legs were able to support her, her knees still feeling a little weak. He took a cautious step forward, using a reluctant Nisei's shoulder for support. He was more of a nurse to her than anything since she moved in with him, though he was adamant about her doing her own thing and leaving him to his own devices.

"I…I can walk…"

"Yes, that's what legs are for, I believe." Nisei nodded.

"I can walk! I'm not paralyzed! Ha!" She chuckled, grabbing her head with both hands.

"What's wrong with you? Of course, you're not paralyzed; just annoying."

She shoved him away, taking a few more shaky steps out of his guest room. He complained of her being rude and rubbed his shoulder as he followed her into the hall, squeezing past her to go ahead.

"Yo, she's up. Can I get back to my game, now? Shit." He sat on the couch and threw on a gaming headset. "Sorry, Sempai, I'm back. Are we dead?"

"You're going to be in a few minutes." Seimei muttered from his arm chair, sipping from a cup of hot tea.

Her heart sank as she looked at him. As beautiful as he was deadly, Aoyagi Seimei was a vision of her greatest nightmares coming true. She fought back bile as she trudged past him to the kitchen to take her medicine that Nisei left haphazardly on the countertop.

"Good morning to you, too." Seimei greeted her.

"Are you just going to ignore your boyfriend?" Yurio, the Fighter of Bloodless, chuckled as he pushed her a plate with a couple eggs with toast and her pills on it.

"Boyfriend my ass." She argued, sitting down and popping a pill in her mouth.

"Doesn't answer his question." Hideo, the Sacrifice informed as he looked at the green-haired woman over the top of the newspaper he was reading. "What's gotten into you? Normally you're all over Seimei in the morning."

"Bite me." She replied, taking eager sips of the orange juice Yurio offered her.

"Someone's pissy. Bad night's sleep? You've been screaming and thrashing about for a couple hours."

"And you all just thought to let me suffer?"

"Last time anyone tried to wake you, you almost broke my jaw." Hideo pointed out. "None of us were that stupid. Akame only did it because Seimei said to."

"Good dog." Yurio muttered, earning a few curses from Nisei in the living room and Seimei's order following that commanded him to shut up.

Hideo chuckled, turning the page. "Seriously, Seimei's not going to take the rudeness well. You know how he is."

"Stop saying his name." She ordered, shoveling some eggs into her mouth. "I'm sick of hearing it."

"You're in a bad mood." Seimei observed as he entered the kitchen, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"How nice of you to notice." She shivered, pushing the plate away. "I'm suddenly not hungry."

"You need your strength. Eat."

"I don't have an appetite, Seimei." She wanted to vomit just saying his name.

What was wrong with her? It was just a bad dream. Seimei was her best friend, her everything. People joked that they were a couple, and they weren't, but she wouldn't mind that all that much. Fi there was anyone in the world she wouldn't mind being with in the end, it was probably the sadistic neko that was so much like her that it was pathetic.

"Did I do something to offend?" He questioned, neko ears twitching.

"Well, time for us to get going. There's no food in this place." Hideo stood.

"There's plenty…?" Yurio cocked an eyebrow.

"We'll be back later." Hideo hauled Yurio to his feet. "You really want to be around when the lovers go at it?" He whispered harshly.

"I forgot it was grocery day." Yurio plastered on a fake smile as Hideo pulled him out of the kitchen. "Wait, I'm not ready to go out…my hair…"

"I'll join you." Nisei offered quickly. "Sempai, I'll be there in fifteen. Wait for me."

Chouma rolled her eyes as their three lesser companions vacated the apartment together with a finalizing thud of the door.

"What was that about?"

"You can't be that naïve." She felt nauseous as she stood. "I'm going to throw up. I better not be pregnant, Aoyagi. Can't collect child support from a dead man."

She gagged a bile ran up her throat. He balked, face going red.

"We've never…"

She rushed out of the room and barricaded herself in the too-small bathroom that had seen too many injuries for how long Akame had lived in the apartment his father bought him. If the elder Akame knew he had friends living there rent free, he'd lose everything. Luckily the father only showed up once a year, maybe every other year, to check in and was convinced the others were just visiting or staying the night because their own place needed work done. Naïve civilian. He sat on the floor with her head back against the sink after she drained her stomach contents, just waiting for the nausea to go away. What was wrong with her? Of course, she wasn't pregnant, and she wasn't sick. The only thing unusual was that dream. Or was it a nightmare?

"Chouma?" Seimei knocked on the door. "Should I get you something? You seem off today."

She started to feel sick again at the sound of his voice. Was it Seimei triggering this? Why? This was her best friend, her partner in crime, her…her _everything_!

"Seimei…" She responded. "Can I ask you something…?"

"What is it?"

"Do you need me?"

"What?"

"Do you need me." She repeated.

"Why are you asking such a ludicrous question? I only need Ritsuka…"

"Would you…would you betray me if it meant reaching your end goal?"

"Why are you acting this way?" He opened the door slowly, poking his head in and seeming immediately repulsed by the stench of sickness overtaking the room. "Did you eat something bad?"

"No, I just…I had a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" He seemed surprised. "I thought nothing frightened you."

"Apparently something does…" She looked away. "Every time I see you…I hear your voice or your name…t makes me physically ill."

He just stared. "Have I done something to cause this?"

"I…I don't know." She groaned. "I just want the nausea to go away. So…please…answer my questions until I'm no longer sickened by you…"

He seemed hut but covered it quickly like he always did. "Alright…ask away…"

"If you had to betray me, to throw me under the bus, to reach your goal…would you?"

"I…can't say that I would." He responded. "You're a valuable asset." He reached to move hair from her face but stopped as if he'd suddenly remembered his germaphobia.

"Is that all I am? An asset? You know what happens with assets in the end, right? You liquify them!" She turned to him, mauve eyes on fire as she stared into pools of amethyst. "Assets are only good until they reach their peak, then you throw them away. Is that your plan, Seimei? To toss me aside when I'm no longer of value?"

She didn't realize she was so close to him until she could feel his quickened breath on her face. She blinked. Had she leapt at him? Why was his back suddenly against the door, her hands on his shoulders, their faces so close she could just…lean in…

She shook her head and pushed away. The nausea was starting to subside a little. "Never mind…I guess, in the end, I'm like Onii-chan…better off not knowing where my destiny lies with you…"

"Why do you call him that…? There's no relation…"

"Ritsu raised us both. We may as well be siblings. It's not like I'm able to see my brother…not since we released him to yours…" She hugged herself. "But none of that matters, Seimei. The bonds of family and friends and all that other nonsense, none of it matters." She turned on her heel to face him, legs a little wobbly now. "It's supposed to be you and me in the end, ruling this world like we were meant to do…but if it comes to taking over with your brother or me, your brother automatically takes my place. I know that, I've known from the start that I'll never mean as much as he does." She shook her head, looking at him finally as he started to control his breathing. "And I have zero idea why that hurts. It shouldn't." A dry laugh. "But it does."

"My brother…if not for him, I have nothing." Seimei spoke after a few minutes. "No motivation, no reason to keep fighting this unwinnable fight…" He paused. "There would never be a time where I had to choose between the two of you. No matter what, you're going to rule by my side. Ritsuka won't want much to do with the politics and the rules of everything. I'll need you in the end."

"So…you won't discard me? You won't toss me away like you did to Onii-chan when you faked your death?"

She could feel her legs wobbling before her knees gave out. Seimei was there to catch her with an arm around her waist, suddenly unafraid of any germs she might have.

"No, I won't. I…guess I need you as much as you need me."

She could have wept as the nausea suddenly vanished and she no longer wanted to punch the neko in the face. "Then…"

"Poor thing…what in the world could have frightened the un-frightenable?"

"Seimei…" She leaned onto his shoulder. "You used me as a martyr…took away my use of my legs and blamed Septimal Moon…and when I said I'd blab to the others, you had Akame take my memories…"

Seimei laughed. "As if any of that makes sense." He brushed hair from her eyes. "Can you stand? Your touch burns…"

She laughed as she forced herself to stand on her own, smirking at him. "I love you too, bastard."


	8. Aoyagi Seimei

Dlbn: Hello everyone, here we are! One more chapter after this and then an epic conclusion chapter I didn't expect to write, and we're done!

Nbld: We're falling asleep as we type, so Review Corner! No reviews, so we'll just hop to it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but plot. Everything else in canon to Loveless and property of Yun Kouga. I make NO money off writing this.

000

This had to be a dream. That was the only logical explanation for why Ritsuka was in his apartment-well, _Akame's_ apartment, but his all the same-and sitting at the table, drinking tea. Soubi was in the kitchen with hm, watching over the neko like the faithful guardian Seimei had ordered him to be. Akame was playing a game on the TV, watching Ritsuka warily out of the corner of his eye through the kitchen doorway. Chouma didn't seem to care that the younger brother was there, but she did look up from the portable system Nisei had let her borrow to make sure nothing weird was going on with him and her Onii-chan, as she considered Soubi to be. Bloodless were sitting on the couch together, Hideo reading a newspaper and Yurio working on a puzzle on the table. The only sounds in the apartment were the beeping of games, and Hideo flipping the newspaper pages. Seimei finally broke from his stupor and sat across from Ritsuka in the kitchen. He'd been asking his brother to come visit for the longest time, so he could sell his _take down Septimal Moon_ plan to him again. He had always vehemently denied the opportunity, saying he was too busy or too angry; it varied between the two depending on the time of day and mood Loveless was in.

Ritsuka looked at Seimei over the top of the tea cup. "You seem surprised that I'm here." He greeted finally. "You keep asking me to come, so pardon my confusion…"

Since when did his brother talk so formally? Apparently four more years apart had made him into someone different…again.

"You always tell me no." Seimei responded.

Ritsuka shrugged. "Maybe I just wanted you to leave me alone and figured the only way to get you to do so was to give in and show up." He responded.

"Wow, he's as cold as you are!" Chouma called from the living room, making Soubi chuckle.

"Don't compare me to him, thanks!" Ritsuka scoffed back, making Nisei snort and Yurio laugh loudly.

He could almost hear Hideo rolling his eyes.

"You don't want to be compared to your own brother, Ritsuka? My heart."

"What heart, tin man?" Yurio shouted in.

That one even had Nisei and Hideo laughing out loud. Seimei glowered, but instantly perked back up when he remembered who was there to visit.

"It's good to see you. You've gotten taller…I like the new haircut."

"It's cute…" Soubi softly agreed, making the younger neko flush.

Seimei felt his blood boil. How dare Soubi, of all people, cause such a reaction in his little brother? He was just a Fighter, just a servant for Ritsuka to borrow. Not someone for him to respond to like that, or at all.

"I got tired of hearing _oh you look so much like Seimei_."

Ritsuka ran his hand through his shorter hair. It was now dyed partially blue and shaved short on one side. If it wasn't for his eyes and asking to see ' _my brother'_ , Seimei wouldn't have recognized him when Akame let him in. He'd almost scolded the Fighter for it until Soubi had shot to his feet and said his name.

"That hurts." Seimei responded.

Ritsuka shrugged. "It is what it is." He responded.

Maybe he should just count himself lucky his brother didn't have a piercing or a tattoo. His name would be a tattoo enough to try and explain away if someone saw before he turned eighteen. Of course, he could always hide it himself if he knew how. Most people did, but Ritsuka was so new to this kind of thing, that it would be a surprise if he knew how to do anything, let alone hide a name. It wasn't like he had much experience, since his Fighter was dead and Soubi wasn't with him long. Then again, he had that wretched young Zero Unit to show him the ropes. Seimei let them live, so it wasn't like he left Ritsuka all alone like some heartless thing. Yet his brother made him out to be the bad guy. Septimal Moon probably turned him.

"So…why do you keep summoning me here?" Ritsuka asked, apparently sick of Seimei just staring at him.

"I just wanted to talk…catch up on things."

"So, talk. You're just staring like you're stoned."

"I wish I was." Yurio piped up. "Ow!"

Sounded like Hideo had slapped him.

"Maybe we should toss out the peanut gallery, hm?" Seimei looked to Soubi.

"No, no, it's fine. If they're here, they can all hear you get shot down at once so there's no confusion when anyone retells the story later." Ritsuka informed, waving Soubi off.

"Seimei?" Soubi asked.

"If Ritsuka doesn't mind them here, then neither do I, I suppose…"

Normally Ritsuka didn't want to deal with Seimei's crew and would tell them to go away. Did he really want his brother to be humiliated so badly?

"So, talk." Ritsuka offered, setting down his tea cup. "Tell me all the trivial shit that's been going on with you, I'll give you all my boring social life issues, and then we can get down to business with you asking me to join you and me telling you to fuck off. Again."

Even Soubi seemed surprised by that one. Seimei never pictured his brother being so rude and straight forward before. How was he able to see through his elder brother that easily?

"Well, then…"

Ritsuka rolled his eyes. "I don't appreciate being taken for a fool, Seimei."

"My apologies if you think I've done so." Seimei bowed his head slightly. "How is everything overall?"

"I'm bored, I'm lonely, I've been in three shit relationships in the past year and a half, and I have nothing better to do with my time then come visit you. You tell me."

Soubi's face fell at the relationship part, and Chouma laughed at the younger brother's words as she joined them. The greenette sat backwards in a chair next to Seimei.

"I like your brother. He's funny." Chouma lay her head sideways on her arms on the back of the chair.

Seimei rolled his eyes.

"You don't know me, do you?" Chouma wondered. "I'm your sister-in-law."

Ritsuka cocked an eyebrow as Soubi began choking on the drink he'd been consuming a minute ago.

"Excuse me?" He wondered.

"You're an idiot." Yurio accused.

"I second that!" Added Nisei.

"Third." Hideo even chimed in.

Chouma rolled her eyes. "Ritsu raised me. That makes Soubi my Onii-chan."

"Like hell it does." Soubi countered.

She was the only one he'd get into a conversation with that wasn't Seimei, and the only one he'd _initiate_ a conversation with. Growing up together probably had something to do with it.

"I see." Ritsuka chuckled. "And here I thought you and my brother…"

"Of course not!" Seimei objected. "I can't stand the touch of another, and my ears are real. How would that work?"

"I don't know. Some people can be in relationships without sex. Mine are real, too." Ritsuka tugged on them. "But I've been with four guys in my life, so…"

"Four? You mentioned three bad relationships."

Ritsuka nodded back towards Soubi. "You told him to love me, remember? Pretty sure that counts, even if it was an order, since my feelings weren't."

Seimei flushed as Chouma whistled.

"And _that_ is why I said we're in-laws!" She laughed. "I could tell from how he responded to you showing up."

"That brings up an interesting point…I barely recognized my brother, Soubi…how did you…?"

Soubi flushed. "The face…he can change his hair, but his face will always be the same…"

Ritsuka flushed. "Maybe I should pierce my nose then; prove you wrong."

Soubi's eyes sparkled. "Maybe so."

"Maybe not." Seimei glared. "Is school going well?"

"Minus the shit relationships, sure." Ritsuka shrugged. "I'm tied for top of my class with Yayoi. Applied for a few scholarships to Ato. I should be hearing back from one soon."

"And your friends?"

"Fine as well." Ritsuka nodded. "I know you don't want to know about them, though, so don't act like you do."

"Still friends with Osamu?"

He shrugged. "We see each other occasionally, talk on the phone more."

"What does she think of the hair?"

"Why do you care? She suggested the color after I had it dyed."

"How did you pay for that?" Seimei cocked an eyebrow.

"I work in the school library after school part time. Part of the work-study program. They don't pay a lot, but I have rent to pay, so it's enough." He shrugged. "As for the cut and dye, friends did it for me."

Seimei didn't hear anything past _rent_. "Rent? Mother charges you now? Is she that convinced you're not her son?"

Ritsuka glowered. "I don't live at home anymore."

"With father, then?"

"Friends." Ritsuka responded. "Mother tossed me out, they took me in. With how much you spy on me, I'm surprised you didn't know. Or did you and the dog finally give up on that?"

"I heard that!" Nisei complained.

"I intended!" Ritsuka shot back.

Soubi chuckled as Chouma failed to cover up her own boisterous laughter.

"Friends, hm…and their parents allow?"

Ritsuka groaned, laying his head back against the chair. The longer part of his hair fell back with him until he sat up. It then fell forward to cover his one eye, but he pushed it behind his left ear.

"Older friends, alright? Stop asking questions. I won't tell you more than that."

"One more question on the topic, then I'll move on."

"Fine."

"It's not…Septimal Moon…is it…?"

Ritsuka's eyebrow quirked. "Why would it be them? Could you imagine living with any of those idiots? Okay, Tai is fine, but Rai just woke up so it's better to let them be."

"Um…"

"I believe he's referring to Kunugi and his Fighter." Soubi interjected. "The Fighter's been in a coma for about thirty years."

Ritsuka nodded. "He woke up when I was fourteen, no explanation." He shrugged. "Anything else you want to know, Seimei?"

"So, you're safe? Mother is no longer hurting you?" Seimei's eyes glistened when Ritsuka nodded. "That's fantastic news."

His brother's eyes darkened. "Fantastic?" He wondered. "Mother threw me into the streets when I turned fourteen with no reason, and nowhere to go. I barely had enough time to get my important things together and get out before she literally threw me onto the sidewalk. I had no idea where I was going to go, if anywhere, or if I'd find something to eat for the day unless I went to school, humiliated and being prodded with questions as to why I had a suitcase. I was almost _homeless_. How do you call that _fantastic_?"

"But you're not. You're safe with your friends."

"On a fluke. I didn't go looking for them or sympathy. They found me soaking wet at a bus stop and offered to let me stay after I poured my guts out to them and told them everything." Ritsuka rolled his eyes. "Anything more you want to know about me?"

"What are you into now days? I feel like I barely know you anymore."

"You barely knew me to being with." Ritsuka rolled his eyes. "Photography, Wisdom Resurrection, sleeping, listening to music on the TV and dancing around my underwear when I'm alone…"

Soubi chuckled.

"Sarcasm, how quaint…"

"You're the king of sarcasm." Chouma told him. "You should appreciate it."

"Zip it."

"Make me." She leaned in and puckered her lips, but Seimei pushed her away.

Ritsuka cocked an eyebrow, seeming to be analyzing the display while Chouma tried to kiss his brother on the cheek, only to repeatedly get shoved away.

"You're…Kio's sister…right?" He asked Chouma. "You look like him…"

"That's right." She left Seimei alone at last. Saved by the brother. "Younger sister, by the way."

"He doesn't know you exist."

She frowned. "He did when we were kids, but you know, Septimal Moon and Kaido family shenanigans."

He nodded.

"And the other two…that's Bloodless, right? Soubi and I fought them together?"

"Correct." Seimei nodded.

"Which leaves Akame, but I know more about him then I care to know from Mimuro, so I'll move on…"

Nisei entered the room, his game beeping from being paused. "Hold on, I heard Mimuro…you speak…?"

"Off and on." Ritsuka shrugged. "Normally if I see him in town, we'll chat for a few minutes. We're not friends or anything, but we don't want to kill one another."

"I see…but he talks about me…ha…"

If Seimei didn't know any better, he'd say that Nisei blushed.

"Yeah, your boyfriend talks about you. Wahoo." Ritsuka rolled his eyes. "Can we move on?"

"Anything else you wish to know?"

"Yes…why you _really_ want me here. You want me to join you, that much I know. What are you selling?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Hideo and Yurio appeared in the doorway, Yurio only peering in from the right side and Hideo standing in the doorway and leaning against left side of the doorframe.

"You want me to join you, but you've got to give me more than that. What's the plan?"

"Are you considering it?"

"I said I'd hear you out, but I don't like beating around the bush." Ritsuka shook his head. "I'd rather we get everything out of the way, I'll take time to simmer on it, and turn you down in the end like we both know I'm going to."

"You really are straight-forward, aren't you? And I thought _I_ was direct."

"You beat around the bush, tell people what they want to hear. Then when the time comes, you strip the rug out from underneath them bad break their world apart. Or is Mikado just a special case?"

The room was silent, no one even bothering to make a sarcastic comment.

"Ouch." Nisei said at last, rubbing his arm.

He'd been part of what had happened to Mikado, so obviously that would have hit him. Ritsuka shrugged.

"As far as I'm concerned, you both deserve that burn." Ritsuka scolded. "What you both did was deplorable."

"I'm aware…" Seimei cleared his throat. "Anyway…well, you know what my plan is by now…don't you?"

"To overthrow Septimal Moon." Ritsuka responded. "How broad."

"You want more details?"

"If you have any, yes, but from with how you keep dancing around it, I'd say you don't _have_ any details."

"Of course, I…"

"Seimei."

The two brothers stared one another down.

"We gather an army, we go in and take them down."

"Just like they did to the older Septimal Moon."

"You knew?" Soubi asked.

Ritsuka nodded. "Mirai was in a coma because of that. Kunugi taught me some things when I was visiting last."

Soubi nodded, looking away in shame that he was unable to be Ritsuka's teacher of the Spell World like he'd intended and attempted to be when they first met. From what Seimei knew, it was Zero that took up the mantle of his sensei for their world, but it made sense that an older male would take Ritsuka under his wing like Kunugi.

"I see." Seimei nodded. "So…what do you say?"

"Baka, he already said what he was going to choose." Chouma snapped at him. "He's going to leave, think about it, and say no n the end."

Seimei rolled his eyes. "I was hoping…"

"Your hope means nothing." Ritsuka informed, standing. "Thank you for the tea and the chit chat, but I'll be leaving now, if you don't mine. I have nothing left to talk about and your plan is half-assed."

Seimei stood quickly. "If you want to leave, that's fine. Just pleas…give me your decision in person."

"I will." Ritsuka nodded once. "If for nothing else but to see the look on your face when I completely crush you by saying no."

"Sadistic." Hideo commented, moving out of the doorway.

"You're more like your brother than you want to believe, Aoyagi-kun." Yurio clicked his tongue and disappeared after Hideo.

"Do you want me to show him to the door, or can I get back to my game?" Akame wondered.

Seimei waved him off. "I've got it."

"Actually, I can show myself out." Ritsuka informed.

"Please, let me walk you to the door. I want to talk to you about something in private."

Ritsuka groaned and rolled his eyes. "I suppose."

He gave Soubi a short hug around the middle that made the blonde blush and hug him back for a second before Ritsuka pulled away.

"Lead the way, brother, _dear_."

Seimei moved his arm. "Of course, little brother."

Seimei followed him out of the kitchen towards the front door. the others had gone back to doing what they were doing before they'd joined the Aoyagi brothers.

"Ritsuka." Seimei spoke once they were in the foyer and Ritsuka was slipping his shoes on.

"Hai?" Ritsuka pulled on his coat as he looked at his brother. "What?"

"What can I do to convince you?"

"Seimei…"

"I know that ruling our world at my side doesn't appeal to you. You're a pacifist, right? That means you won't hurt anyone, and sometimes you have to hurt people to get to the top and stay there. You won't do that."

"The dirty work was always your business, Seimei." Ritsuka put up his hands innocently. "My hands are clean, I'm proud to admit."

Seimei nodded. "So, is there something I can do to convince you to join me?"

"I'm afraid not, Seimei. As it stands, I've made my decision."

"Anything I can give you maybe? As a token of my respect?"

"You're really that desperate, are you?" Ritsuka sighed. "I suppose there's _one_ thing you can give us…"

Us?

"Name it!"

"Soubi."

"What?"

"Give me _back_ my Fighter, and I'll at the least _consider_ joining you."

"You can't be serious." Seimei replied.

"You want your little brother to join you that badly? Grant him one simple request." Ritsuka splayed his arms to the side.

"I…" Seimei thought for a moment. "Soubi! Get over here!"

Soubi trotted over like a loyal puppy. "Hai, Seimei?"

"Pack your stuff…you're going with him…"

All noise in the house stopped. The others quickly joined the trio.

"What did you say?" Soubi asked.

"You're sending Onii-chan away?" Chouma clung to the artist's arm. "How could you, Seimei?"

"Ritsuka has agreed to, at the least, consider joining me, but I have to give him something in return…he's asked for you…hurry your ass up. I won't keep my promise for long…"

"I…as you wish." Soubi bowed and backed out of the group.

"You can't be serious." Nisei stated. "After all the bullshit to get him back, you're just going to give him up like that?" He snapped his fingers. "And you. He ditched you in a cemetery for your _brother_ , right when you were about to confess your love for him…and you still want him back…?"

"You never forget your first love, Akame…after all, when all is said and done, you still called Mimuro the moment you got back, didn't you?"

Nisei flushed. "Him and his big mouth…"

Seimei hummed in agreement. "I suppose we all have our weaknesses." He informed.

Ritsuka nodded, folding his arms over his chest and checking his watch as he tapped his foot. Soubi appeared a second later with a backpack and a canvas bag of his stuff. A canvas was sticking out of the bag as if he was just in a rush to leave.

"That eager to dump me, hm?" Seimei wondered.

"Just…following orders, Seimei."

"Who's, I wonder." Ritsuka chuckled, rubbing his chin. "Hey, Soubi?"

"Hai?"

"Remember that thing we talked about that one time? Can you show Seimei? I'm sure he'd love to see it."

"Are you sure."

Ritsuka nodded his approval. "Yeah, go ahead!"

Seimei cocked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" He turned to Soubi.

The blonde carefully removed the bandages from around his neck to reveal that his name was missing.

"What…?" Seimei looked between the two of them. "What did you do…?" He looked at Ritsuka.

"Nothing. How dare you accuse me?" Ritsuka's voice went dark. "You crossed us, Seimei. Pardon for me to reveal the double cross at the very end."

"Us…? Soubi…?" Seimei looked to him. "What's going on…?"

"It's nothing to do with Soubi, Seimei…" Ritsuka's voice was suddenly more timid than it had been the entire time he'd been at the apartment.

Seimei turned to him. His hair in the middle was flipped to the other side, the shaved part hidden by raven black.

"Ritsuka…?"

"Hai?" Ritsuka wondered. "That's me…now, anyway."

"Now?"

"We were…speaking to Loveless a moment ago…your brother's other personality."

"Other personality?" Nisei cocked an eyebrow and stared laughing. "Oh man, that's rich! He's got multiple personalities."

"Multiple personality disorder, yeah. Sensei diagnosed me a year or so ago." Ritsuka shrugged one shoulder. "I'm sorry he didn't tell you, but I asked Soubi to keep silent, and Loveless won't say anything I don't want him to. I'm the main, so he listens to me more than the other way around."

"You went through all this…"

"It was his idea." Ritsuka pointed to his head. "I'll consider joining you like he promised, Seimei. But as you can see, ordering Soubi to stay is now pointless…"

Seimei just stared. How could his little brother have pulled one over on him like this? And Soubi…for Ritsuka to know that, they had to have bene in communication. Their bond wasn't formed, so he would have heard them on the phone. Suddenly Soubi's late night walks to get away from Akame and random vanishings to Gora to see his parents' graves made sense.

"You've been meeting in secret behind my back…how long…?"

"I don't know, a year I guess?" Ritsuka scratched at his bangs. "I don't have any memory of when Loveless is in charge, and he has no memory of when I am, so it could have been at any point, really."

"A year and a half." Soubi flushed. "I've been keeping track, sorry."

"No worries." Ritsuka smiled and held out a hand. "Come on, we don't have much time…"

"Curfew?" Seimei wondered.

"Maybe."

Soubi took the outstretched hand and Seimei just stared in disbelief as his brother and former Fighter walked out the door hand in hand, sharing a kiss as Soubi pulled the door shut.

"Well…the little brother has become the master of deception, I see…" Yurio commented. "I wonder just what _else_ little Aoyagi is hiding from us…"

Seimei's phone buzzed and he looked at it while the others argued back and forth. The number was unfamiliar.

 _It's Loveless. I had this message stamped with a time, pardon for confusing you. I had a feeling Ritsuka would flake out of it at the last second and lose his nerve, so I planned in advance._ It read. _You have about half an hour before Septimal Moon comes knocking on your doors. I'd get packing and GTFO if I were you. Ha. Sorry Seimei, but its time you paid for your sins. Love you, Loveless_

Seimei paled. Nisei took notice and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Seimei?" He asked. "What is it?"

"We…we have to go…"

"What?" Yurio asked.

"All of us. We must go. Ritsuka…I mean _Loveless_ has ratted us out. He sent a message…half hour…" He gave Nisei the phone and walked away to retrieve whatever he thought was necessary.

"Holy shit" Nisei pocketed the cell phone and rushed off to gather some of his things. The entire house was in chaos in a matter of seconds, everyone trying to get what they had with them that was important and pack it up, so they could run. Seimei flicked up his hood and let Nisei pull him out of the apartment by the hand.

"Remember the rendezvous point." The Beloved Sacrifice told the others. "We'll split up here."

Chouma nodded. "I'm going with you two. I won't make it far on my own."

"It's Seimei they're mostly after. You're safer with us." Yurio grabbed her and dragged her away with him and Hideo.

"Nisei…go…" Seimei muttered.

"What? Why?"

"I don't…without Ritsuka…"

"Shut up." Nisei ordered. "I'm not leaving you behind, and neither of us are getting caught. We're dead if we do. So, _move_ , Seimei."

"But…"

"Don't give me some life isn't worth living without my brother bullshit. He'll come back to you. Something keeps pulling him back in. loveless or Ritsuka, he's your brother. Now let's _go_."

For once, he was grateful to have the dark Fighter at his side as Nisei pulled him down the road, yanking out his cell phone to text someone; probably Mimuro. Seimei really didn't care who it was. But as the train rode away from the station nearest their apartment and a bunch of cars with blacked-out windows surrounded the building, and he sat between Nisei and Mimuro with his hood up and head hung low, he'd never been more grateful that Nisei was so damn loyal to the both of them.

000

Seimei woke with a start, finding himself laying on Nisei's couch. The Fighter in question was sitting in a gaming chair, falling asleep as he typed away at his keyboard. Seimei looked around the room. They were definitely in Nisei's apartment still. He was on the couch, which meant Chouma likely had Nisei's room and Bloodless were in the guest room. Nisei had reluctantly given his room to the green haired woman. He'd gotten a cot for her and Seimei had his bed, but if she went to bed first, she'd take the bed and stick him with the coat.

"Nisei." He greeted. "How long have I been asleep?"

"An hour or so." Nisei shrugged, rubbing one of his sleepy eyes. "Why…?"

"Just wondering…" Seimei got off the couch and stretched.

He made his way down the hall to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. What a dream. Him being grateful to have Akame around was one thing. Ritsuka having multiple personalities and using them both to screw him over, and Soubi betraying him for his brother? That was something else entirely. Was he _that_ afraid of his brother and the power he unknowingly harbored within? No. if Ritsuka turned on him, it was all Septimal Moon's fault. Not Ritsuka's, not his, not Agatsuma's or Nisei's. Theirs. Seimei splashed cold water on his face and paused. Had Nisei followed him into the room?

"What?" He wondered.

No response made him growl, so he turned around as he wiped his face off on a towel. "Don't you know how to answer…me…?" He removed the towel to see that no one was there.

Perhaps it was Chouma or Bloodless. But the light snoring coming from the room next store indicated that she was asleep still. Seimei shook his head and left the bathroom. He made his way to the kitchen, visions from the nightmare of his brother with an obscure haircut and color job sitting there at the table with hard eyes and a cup of hot tea invaded his mind. He shook it away as he went to grab a drink. Feeling watched again, he turned.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"You say something?" Nisei asked from the other room, clearly half-asleep.

"No…" Seimei responded. "Talking to myself."

Quite literally. What was coming over him? He would have heard the floor creak a little under the pressure of someone coming near the kitchen, so he would have heard it before he felt another presence. So why did he think someone was there? He went back to pouring water from a pitcher in the fridge into his cup, but the nagging feeling that someone was watching nearby came back. He looked out the window to see nothing in the blackness. It wasn't like anyone could even get up to the window up here. The fire escape was in the living room, not the kitchen. Still, he drew the curtains as the hair on his arm stood on end. He finished his drink and walked back to the living room, looking out at the balcony and city beyond. Nisei's eyes bore holes into his master's back.

"What?" Seimei wondered.

"You're acting strange." Nisei pointed out. "Why did you close the curtains?"

"I felt like someone was watching me…I felt the same in the bathroom…"

"What did you do that's got you paranoid?" Nisei set his laptop aside to join his master at the balcony doors.

"Nothing." Seimei sneered. "I just…I don't know…how long will we be safe here?"

"As long as you have me…"

"What's to stop someone from getting information about us and selling it off to the highest bidder? Faceless knows enough about us to be of trouble."

"But knows enough about us to keep their mouths shut. They're not in the business of helping people; only themselves."

"Exactly. They'll cross someone for you, only to cross you for someone else." Seimei watched their reflections in the glass from the floor lamp behind them. "I wonder…"

"What?" Nisei cocked an eyebrow.

"Soubi…where do you suppose he is right now?"

"Visiting his parents' graves, last I knew. But I don't make it a point to keep tabs on the guy."

Seimei hummed.

"Why? Think he's lying to get away from us? Can't say I'd blame him."

"Agreed." Seimei felt like he was being watched again and turned.

He didn't see another reflection in the mirror, but he still turned to see if someone was behind him, maybe hidden from view by his or Nisei's reflection.

"You're paranoid." Nisei pointed out. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know…" Seimei looked away. "I had a nightmare…Ritsuka and Agatsuma turned on us…and Septimal Moon…"

"I doubt he'd turn on you. Your brother, I can't speak for. He'd probably toss you under the bus to get his memory back."

"Enough." Seimei glared. "Thanks…"

"Hold on a second…" Nisei responded. "You had a nightmare that Septimal Moon came after you…and now you're paranoid that someone is watching you?"

"Yes…?"

"A nightmare that follow you into the waking world. Doesn't that sound…?"

"Familiar…Nightmare."

"Bingo."

"But I'm not Septimal Moon. It supposed to only affect them."'

"Your seat it still vacant. No one has taken in. Since you're alive, by default, you're still Septimal Moon."

"I see…" Seimei paused, rubbing his temples. "Morons can't even get that right…why do I waste my time on such fools?"

"A good idea at the time, boss. To be fair you didn't think of it either." Nisei pointed out.

Seimei glared. "I need to stop it…"

"If I know their spells at all, you need something to snap you out of it." Nisei responded. "Something to counter the waking effects."

"Or a spell." Seimei gave his Fighter a sideways look.

Nisei sighed. " _Dark hand of Nightmare, release my Master from your suffocating grip. Remove the paranoia that plaques my Master."_

Seimei felt the nightmare's hold start to life, the fear and feeling that he was being spied no falling away into nothing as if it never existed. The Sacrifice shuddered.

"I need want to go through that again…" Seimei shivered. "that spell…"

Nisei put a hand on his Master's shoulder.

"It's gone. You're free, Seimei."

"Yes…for now…" Seimei grabbed his phone off the table and dialed one of the most recent numbers.

"Hello?" A female voice greeted.

"You need to control your spells better…I was affected."  
He informed.

"Ah, a thousand pardons, Beloved." She apologized, though it sounded fake. "But you did say to affect _all_ of Septimal Moon. Until the seats are officially taken by someone else, that includes you and that pretty young lady you brought to meet us."

The phone went dead and Seimei held back a shiver. They were going to hit Chouma as well. Or maybe they already did.


	9. Aoyagi Ritsuka

Dlbn: Hello everyone! We know its late, but here's our chapter for today.

Nbld: It's the last of the nightmares, but because I get to be super special sick for Halloween this year (still did Halloween stuff and trick or treating though!), I am too tired to finish the extra ending chapter and will do so and post either tomorrow or Friday for Day of the Dead instead.

Dlbn: Funny how that kind of works out.

Nbld: Indeed. No reviews so no Review Corner again. Let's just jump right in!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Everyone/everything here is from Loveless and therefore belongs to Yun Kouga. I _do_ own a certain idea and person towards the end, but you'll find that out later. I won't name names. I make NO money off writing this.

000

When Ritsuka woke up, he found himself lying on a metal table. He wasn't sure where he was, but the sterile smell of the room made him want to throw up. He got up and found his way out of the room carefully. There were some people around a corner at a nurse's station, and he realized he was at a hospital. He recognized one voice in the chattering group.

"You're certain…he's…?" Soubi's voice wondered.

"I'm sorry." The nurse stated. "We did everything we could, but…the damage…has his mother always been like this?"

"I'm…he never told me anything about it…if I had known, I'd…"

Ritsuka turned the corner to see Soubi standing with a sobbing Kio, Akira, Zero, few nurses. Akira had his arms around Kio and Yoji and Natsuo both looked like they were trying not to cry or get angry. The typical hospital sounds were surrounding them, almost drowning them out.

"I'm sorry for your loss, hon…but would you come identify the body?"

"Body?" Ritsuka asked, surprised when no one turned to see him there. "Who's body?"

"I…yes…if that's what you need…"

"We tried to get a hold of his father, but…"

"He's not available. That…doesn't surprise me, really…he's always been that way…"

A nurse nodded. "I'll bring you in, in a few minutes…the police are rounding up the mother."

The nurses left the males alone.

"Why…why didn't he _tell_ anyone what was going on?" Kio sobbed. "We could have helped…and now he's…"

Akira ran his fingers through Kio's hair. "You know the way he is. He wouldn't have wanted us to worry."

"So, he risks his own life and ends up dead…" Kio looked at Soubi. "You were close…did you know…?"

Soubi shook his head. "I had no idea…Kio, if I knew what was going on in that house, Ritsuka would have been with me a long time ago."

"Soubi?" Ritsuka wondered. "Who are you guys talking about? What are you talking about? You know what mom's like…Akira! Kio! You guys knew, too! I live with you, for god's sake…"

He reached for Soubi's arm, only to find that he went right through it. "What the…?" he tried again. "I'm…invisible…? But? A spell?"

The nurses returned with a police officer. "We're ready to bring you in now." The officer informed.

The others nodded.

"I'll do this alone…I don't want any of you seeing…" Soubi's voice caught.

A nurse rubbed his arm as they led him back through the doors Ritsuka had gone through. He followed, slipping through the closing doors. He followed them right back to the room he'd woken in and he felt his blood run cold. No way…it wasn't… _him_ they were talking about, was it? He peeked around Soubi to see the officer draw back the sheet covering a body and screamed. Laying on the bed was himself, lips blue and eyes closed. There were marks around his neck like he was strangled, and cuts on other parts of his body that he could see. He threw his hands over his mouth when no one heard him. It was him lying on the bed, dead. It was him that Soubi was identifying.

"That's…that's Ritsuka…" Soubi nodded, reaching out to gently stroke his hair between his neko ears. "That's my Ritsuka…"

The officer nodded slowly. "That's all we needed…thank you, son."

"Can…can I stay?"

The nurses and officer shared a look. "For a few minutes." The man said. "Don't take too long. We need to get a statement from you and your friends."

"Hai…"

The others left the room, left Soubi and the body alone.

"Soubi…I'm not dead…" Ritsuka's hand fell through the Fighter again. "I'm behind you. I'm her, I'm alive."

"Ritsuka…I should have gotten you out…I should have ignored your orders…this is my fault…" Soubi wiped away a few tears. "I could have saved you…and you wouldn't be…" he knelt next to the table and lay his head on Ritsuka's leg. "Please wake up, master…please…I can't live without you…Ritsuka…please…"

"Soubi, I'm right _here_!"

The door opened, and a nurse poked her head in. "They're ready for you, hon."

Soubi nodded confirmation. "I'll…be right there…" He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to Ritsuka's temple, his cheek, and finally his lips, as if he was hoping a kiss could wake him like Sleeping Beauty.

After a few moments, he pat the table and covered the boy's face up again. He left the room, fingers digging in his pocket for his lighter and cigarettes. Ritsuka couldn't bear the sight of himself lying dead, so he left the room after the blond. Zero were waiting on the other side of the door.

"Kio's knees buckled, so Akira's getting him checked out. He's just overreacting I think." Yoji informed.

"Would it kill either of you to show some remorse? Ritsuka was your best friend." Soubi scolded.

"This is how we handle grief, Soubi…by pretending it doesn't exist…" Natsuo still took the blonde's arm in both hands. "What do we do? Yuiko will be devastated. I don't think Hitomi or Yayoi would take it well either."

"I'll…have to make them forget…"

"What?" Ritsuka objected. "You can't be serious!"

He knew that Soubi knew the spell Akame had used to steal his memory a few years back, but to think that he'd use it to make people forget about him? To spar them the grief and pain or not, it was cruel. He knew how much Ritsuka feared being replaced and forgotten. It was a punch to the face to make that happen to other people.

"You think that's wise? Ritsuka would be mad." Yoji warned. "People forgetting him is exactly what he was afraid of all this time…"

"I know…" Soubi paused. "I don't plan on catching his wrath."

"What are you talking about…?" Yoji went pale. "Soubi…you're not…"

The blond said nothing, just walked to the end of the hall where the nurses and officer were waiting, casting his spell for the people he knew would be hurt most. Ritsuka felt tears falling.

"Soubi, please! Don't make them forget me! I'm here! I'm here! Soubi…if you kill yourself like some twisted Romeo and Juliet shit, I'll bring you back and kill you myself!" He chased after the blond. "Do you hear me! Don't you dare, Soubi!"

He burst through the doors to find himself in his school classroom. He looked around. Sensei was doing roll call. His desk next to Yuiko sat empty. Shinonome-sensei wasn't his teacher now that he was a freshman, but she was the one taking roll. That made no sense, but he wasn't about to argue that when he was waking up dead.

"Looks like everyone's here!" She smiled cheerfully. "It's been a while since that's happened, with all the sicknesses going around!"

"Sensei…" Yuiko commented. "Why does it feel like we're missing someone?"

Hitomi looked around the room again. "No, everyone appears to be here."

"Maybe you're just tired of the seat next to you being empty." One of Yuiko's bullies taunted. "Did you make up an imaginary friend to fill the spot and he stopped coming?"

"I…" Yuiko's eyes watered.

"Leave her alone." Ritsuka ordered, though no one seemed to hear him. "You…you can't hear me…?"

His heart pounded in his ears as Sensei started giving a lecture about bullying. They didn't realize the seat was empty because he was gone. He walked over and sat down, staring at Yuiko to see if she noticed or said anything. Her face was blank as she went to doodling in her notebook, still crying silent tears.

"Yuiko…" He reached to touch her, and his hand fell through. "I'm here…we're best friends, remember? Don't…don't tell me you forgot about me…" Silence answered him. "Yuiko…?"

When she said nothing, he stood.

"Sensei! Can you see me? Do you know I'm here? You said everyone's here, but I'm absent! Absent! Do you not notice? Did you forget about me…?" Ritsuka rushed up to her and waved a hand in front of her face. "Sensei?"

She continued the lesson as if she hadn't seen it. He took a step back.

"No…this can't be happening…that spell…I have to make Soubi cancel that spell!" He rushed out of the room.

The school hallway was missing, and he instead found himself in Kio and Akira's apartment. He knew the room he was in was the spare room they'd converted into his room when he moved in. the bed and dresser were still there, as was the desk and desktop computer. But the linens that had decorated his bed were missing, and the open closet appeared to be empty. It was like he was never there. Ritsuka shook off the nerves and left the room to the apartment. Kio and Akira were sitting at the kitchen table. Kio was crying over something as they both stared at a newspaper on the table. Okay, so it looked like they hadn't forgotten him, just cleared out his room because it was painful.

"How…how did this happen…?" Kio slammed a fist on the table. "I should have known! He was my best friend…I should have been there for him…I should have seen the signs. And now, Soubi's…"

"He was always good at keeping secrets, Kio, you know that. You barley knew what was going on with him and Seimei until things got really bad." Akira tried to calm the greenette down and put a hand on top of his.

"I know…but still…my best friend was suffering this much, and I was too blind to see it?" He swiped the newspaper off the table and stormed towards their room.

"Kio, it's not your fault…" Akira followed him.

Ritsuka picked up the newspaper and almost dropped it. The headline wasn't about him, but about Soubi.

 _Local Artist Found Deceased in Apartment Foul Play Not Suspected_. There was a picture of the person in question. Soubi…

Ritsuka dropped it finally and shook his head. No, there was no way Soubi would die. But, at the hospital, he had claimed he couldn't live without Ritsuka…so…without a thought, Ritsuka rushed out through the front door. It was obvious to him now that he went through most things. Why hadn't he realized that when he first left the hospital room?

He found himself almost instantly outside Soubi's apartment. There was police tape across the open door. Police officers were inside. Yoji and Natsuo were down at the foot of the steps talking to one of the officers.

"You didn't see anything suspicious before you left town?" The cop asked.

"We told you." Yoji growled. "We had breakfast with him, he dropped us at the train station, so we could go see mom. Nothing weird. We got back, and he wasn't there to pick us up. So, we just walked home and came in to see blondie having done himself in."

"Soubi…we have to let our family know…" Natsuo was clearly meaning Septimal Moon. "We don't know why he did this, he wasn't acting suspicious. Now can you leave us alone? We've told you everything."

Ritsuka tuned them out, knowing that yelling for the twins wasn't going to do anything. He walked through the police tape. The stench of death permeated the tension in the air. Everything of Soubi's was being looked through. Ritsuka swallowed hard when he noticed one cop was looking through photos Ritsuka had given him.

"I wonder who the boy is…" An officer said.

"Aoyagi Ritsuka. He was murdered by his mother a week or so ago. Agatsuma identified the body."

"Wonder if this is why he did it. Pervert…"

Ritsuka wanted to scream at him. Soubi wasn't a pervert! He hadn't done anything inappropriate to him. Sure, they were a Unit, and possibly a couple before Soubi left with Seimei. But he wasn't a pervert!

"He was a friend of the twins." The other officer shot back. "I guess Aoyagi's older brother was his boyfriend or something like that."

"Nothing like that!" Ritsuka yelled. "Soubi was mine, not Seimei's! They couldn't even stand each other!"

No response.

"So, the older brother died, and he went for the younger one."

"No." The officer said. "I questioned that man for a while. He looked after Ritsuka out of respect for the older brother. The others confirmed it. He didn't kill himself because he was involved with a teenager."

"Killed himself…?" Ritsuka pushed around the officers and made it closer to where an officer was taking photos.

Sitting on the couch was Soubi. A burned-out cigarette was laying on the coffee table. Soubi looked undisturbed, peaceful. Ritsuka didn't have to look closely to realize that he'd used a spell on himself. At the last, he had someone else do it. No one would suspect that. His death would forever be a mystery.

"Ritsuka?" The neko heard Soubi's voice and whipped around. "I had hoped you wouldn't see…"

Ritsuka hugged the blonde standing behind him. He was cold, but he was something Ritsuka could hold onto. It was then that the boy's mind realized that he was nothing but his own restless spirit now. Wandering the world for some unknown purpose.

"Soubi…you…how could you…?" Ritsuka looked up at him. "How could you do this to yourself?"

"I told you…I couldn't live without you, Ritsuka…" Soubi responded, kissing his forehead. "Remember what I told you? I'd sooner die then follow an order to kill you? I should have done this after Seimei died. That's what a Fighter is supposed to do when their master dies. But Seimei's order prevented that…"

"Because he was going to need you after he faked his death." Ritsuka pouted. "You…you made everyone forget about me! How could you do that?! You know how I feel about being forgotten…!"

"I'm sorry." Soubi held him close, nuzzling between his ears. "I couldn't let them go on with the pain of knowing what had happened to you…"

"Yuiko's being bullied without me…I haven't seen Yayoi, but…where are Zero going to go now…?"

"Back to Nagisa, probably."

"How did no one at school realize they were gone, too?"

"Part of the spell. It removes all memory of you and anything connected to you…Zero wouldn't be her if not for you, so…"

Ritsuka looked away. "I still can't believe you'd do that to me…I'm mad at you…"

"You're mad that I made them forget, but not that I ended my own life…?"

"No! I'm mad about that, too!" Ritsuka flushed. "But…at least I'm not alone anymore…"

"Not anymore, not ever."

Their lips connected, and the world faded to black.

000

Ritsuka startled himself awake. He was in Soubi's old dorm room at Seven Voices. He heard commotion in the hallway and threw off the blankets. He reached for his pants on the chair and froze. There was blood down his arm. He brushed it off, but it didn't budge. What in the world? He stumbled to the full-length mirror in the closet, only to find that the blood wasn't limited to that arm. It was everywhere; on his face, on his arms and legs, his torso. He could see it dripping into his eye, but he didn't feel anything. How did he get into this condition? Why had no one taken him to the infirmary? Did he lose more memories? The thought made his stomach churn and head spin. His memories were precious. To lose more after all he'd been through, all he'd experienced in what he'd call his _new life_ , was a serious blow to his psyche. He ran his fingers through his hair and found that it wasn't matted with blood like he'd expected. This made no sense. How could he be covered in blood, but his hair and vision not be affected by it? The neko took off his shirt and looked down at his name, which was also dripping blood where it was precariously embedded into his hip. There were cuts along his torso, most he recognized and were old, but there were a few strange ones that had blood coming from them. He ran a finger though the blood and found that it didn't move, and it didn't feel wet and sticky.

He grabbed a towel from the chair and threw it over his shoulder. The neko grabbed some clothes from his suitcase and his key before he left the dorm. The door locked behind him. He walked down to the communal showers, not caring who saw his name or the strange blood. Maybe they'd get him some medical help if they saw him. He'd go to the infirmary himself, but without knowing the cause, he'd feel foolish.

The showers were thankfully empty when he went in. He went into one stall and put his stuff on the bench just outside it. No one would be dumb enough to steal his things if they knew who he was, so he activated his battle signature before stepping into the shower and removing his boxers. The ravenette was thankful he didn't see much damage done to a certain area of his body, but his legs also looked like they were chewed up and spit out by a rabid dog. He lathered up his hands and started scrubbing away at the blood, but nothing made it disappear. His mind drew the conclusion that it wasn't really blood, but some kind of paint. Zero was probably playing a prank on him. God damn it! He still scrubbed at the offending red liquid, even washed his hair two times to get the so-called blood out. When nothing was doing the trick, he slammed a fist into the bathroom stall. He sighed and shut the water off. If it wasn't going to help, staying in the shower much longer would be utterly pointless. He got dressed, still trying to get the blood off him as he did so. His phone buzzed, and an alarm began sounding. The neko picked it up and checked it.

"Shit, I'm going to be late." He quickly finished getting dressed and, forgetting the blood, grabbed his leftover things and made a beeline for Soubi's dorm.

He pushed open the slightly open door and stepped inside. The smell of cigarette smoke and acrylic paint assaulted his nose as soon as he entered.

"Damn it, Soubi, someone's going to find you if you keep doing that in the dorms." He complained.

"My apologies." Soubi put out the cigarette and stood. "You look refreshed. Have a nice shower? It's not like you to not be here before me."

"I know, I know." Ritsuka ran a hand through his hair. "I just wish we didn't have to keep meeting in secret…"

The blond wrapped his arms around him, the scent of his cologne trying desperately to overcome the stench of menthol and tobacco burning. Ritsuka snuggled into the arm arms, relishing in the embrace of someone he thought he'd never see again. The memory of the blood slapped him in the face like a semi-truck and he pulled away.

"Soubi?" He wondered. "Aren't I…covered in something…?"

"Hm? In what?" Soubi took a little whiff. "All I smell is your shampoo…quite a lot of it. Why overdo it, kitten?"

Ritsuka flushed at the nickname. Only Soubi could call him that and get away with it. Not that anyone else had ever tried.

"You don't see blood…? Or something red and weird on me?"

"No?" Soubi's brow knitted. "Have you hit your head?" He moved Ritsuka's hair to check for a bump.

"No, I just had a nightmare. When I woke up…I saw blood all over me. It won't come off, Soubi…" Ritsuka rubbed at a patch on his arm that was starting to seep through his clothes.

"If you were covered in blood, I'd like to think someone other than you would notice." Soubi chuckled. "You had a nightmare…hm…"

"What? Do you know something?"

"I once heard of a Unit able to cause nightmares…the effect would last until the waking hours. You have to break the spell."

"How?"

"Well, what was your dream about? Maybe that could be a clue." Soubi pulled him to sit on the floor with him, straddling the blonde's lap.

Ritsuka put his hands on Soubi's shoulders for support and stared down at him. By god, the man was as gorgeous as he was when they met. The light glinted off the butterfly earrings Ritsuka had pierced in himself when he was twelve. Bright cobalt eyes that used to be so dull stared up at him from behind wire frames. Albeit shorter, his blonde hair was the same as Ritsuka remembered. He threaded his fingers through the hair instead.

"Mother killed me…" He muttered. "You identified my body…then you used that wretched spell and made everyone forget about me. I was there, I could see everything, hear everything…but no one could see or feel or hear me. They didn't even remember me. I was gone but sensei still said everyone was in class that day. Yuiko seemed to know something wasn't right but couldn't figure out what it was."

"Hm…" Soubi's eyes sparkled with a sense of wonder that Ritsuka would have found cute if it was someone younger. "Go on…"

"Then…you couldn't live without me so you…a spell…" Ritsuka looked away.

"I see…" Soubi reached up and pulled Ritsuka closer by the collar. "I'd never do that, Ritsuka. I could never live without you, but I wouldn't disrespect your memory so much as to kill myself, let alone make people forget you. If anything, I'd make sure they remember…then make Seimei suffer for all the hell he's put you through."

"Hell he's put me through?" Ritsuka touched Soubi's neck, where Seimei's name once stood proud. "He carved your neck up like a turkey, beat the hell out of you, treated you like a slave and made you kill," that made Soubi blush, "and you want him to suffer for what I've gone through because of him?"

"I could care less about what's happened to me. It's in the past. I serve a better master, now." Soubi kissed his neck.

"Yes, but no one knows." Ritsuka shivered out of pleasure. "Soubi…"

"I assure you, none of that will ever happen. You live with Kio and Akira. They'd never let your mother hurt you."

"I know."

Soubi leaned up and pressed his lips gently to the younger male's. Ritsuka sighed in content and pressed back, his tongue running along Soubi's bottom lip. The blond parted his lips and Ritsuka took advantage, slipping his tongue inside slightly before removing it. They broke apart and pressed their foreheads together.

"Are you okay now?" Soubi wondered.

"I…I don't know…" Ritsuka looked at his hand and found it clean of blood.

He scrambled away from Soubi, the blonde mewling in annoyance at the loss of warmth. He looked himself over in the mirror, pulling up his shirt to reveal his name. the blood and newer cuts were gone all that was left was his regular skin and from abuse from his mother. Giddy, he turned to Soubi and broke into a grin.

"I'm clean!" He gave a little twirl. "No blood!"

Soubi chuckled, smirking. "Glad to be of assistance."

Ritsuka almost threw himself at the blonde as he hopped into his lap, lips eagerly pressing back to Soubi as his fingers found their way up under the blonde's turtleneck shirt. Soubi moaned but pulled away.

"God damn." He panted, smirking. "What's gotten into you?"

"You." Ritsuka kissed the tip of his nose. "You're amazing Soubi…my protector…" a kiss on the left cheek, "my Fighter" a kiss on the right cheek, "ender of my nightmares…" a kiss to the forehead, "my lover…"

Soubi pulled the ravenette close and kissed him again, relishing in his warmth. He moaned and pulled away again, grabbing a thin piano wire that connected him to Seimei.

"The master is calling…"

"I don't know how you get away with it, Soubi, but I swear if he ever figures out you're sneaking out to see me and hurts you, I'm going to…"

"I know, I know." Soubi chuckled. "He thinks I'm at my parents' graves again. It's a long trip, but he'll get over it. He has Akame; he doesn't need me."

"I do…"

Soubi nuzzled into the crook of his neck and planted a kiss there. "I know. I need you, too."

Ritsuka pulled away, letting the blonde get up. Soubi put his canvas and paints back under the bed as Ritsuka threw on his coat.

"Let's not let the next time be as long, okay?" Ritsuka wondered. "We'll meet in Tokyo somewhere."

Soubi nodded. "I'll be waiting."

They kissed, though an annoyed groan from Soubi said that Seimei called him again. He pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Hai, Seimei?" he wondered.

" _What took you so long to answer me?_ "

"There were people at the grave next to my parents'. I didn't want to disturb them. I'm leaving now, though."

" _Good. I need you to pick up some things on your way back to town. I'll send you a list via text."_

"As you wish, Seimei."

" _Got that right…"_

Soubi shut the phone and shook his head. "Take me to the train station?"

"When is he going to figure out that you're no longer his?"

"Hopefully not for a while." Soubi responded. "Bandage my neck quick?"

Ritsuka took the outstretched bandage with a nod. He wrapped it carefully around the blonde's throat to hide where his name used to be. Why Seimei never made him take it off and show off his name was a mystery, but he was grateful for it. If he had, the elder Aoyagi would know that Soubi no longer served him.

The walk to the bus stop was full of both chatter and meaningful silences. They had kissed goodbye, not caring who saw and complained, and Ritsuka left as soon as the train was no longer visible from the top platform. The neko jammed his hands in his pockets and made his way back to the school.

Of course, Soubi wouldn't make people forget about him. He wouldn't die so easily either, not by his own hand anyway. That was silly. Whoever casted that spell was a sick bastard, but it was obvious that they didn't know Soubi too well if that's what had happened. Being forgotten as definitely his worst fear, he had to admit. Being killed by his mother was a fear of the past that no longer held meaning, since she kicked him out two years prior and he'd been living with Akira and Kio ever since. He and Soubi had been meeting in secret for a few months, mostly whenever Ritsuka would go to the school. Neither Septimal Moon nor Seimei's allies could know, as it would cause more trouble than they needed. There had been at least a year and a half of peace and no one wanted to break that; least of all the Loveless Unit.

The walk back to the school proved itself to be longer and more stressful then it needed to be. Ritsuka felt like his legs were going to give out by the time he made it inside the building. The halls were empty, since everyone was either at breakfast or getting work done early in classrooms. He found the solitude more comforting than suffocating. A few people were out and gave him quick waves or brief hellos, which he returned, but he would have liked it better if there hadn't been anyone in the halls.

He heard someone muttering to themselves at the end of the hallway. Great, just what he needed right now. Someone who was either out of their mind, or so upset that talking to themselves was a better course of action then getting help. When he rounded the corner, he spotted an older man standing near a window, talking out loud to himself.

"Oh, good morning, Sensei."


	10. Nightmare's End

Dlbn: Well, as everyone probably expected, we didn't update before Halloween ended. I woke up sick on Halloween and didn't feel up to finishing writing, let alone posting.

Nbld: But, it's Día de los Muertos today (the last day) so its appropriate to post the ending of a Halloween story on the unofficial end of the Halloween season.

Dlbn: My family started decorating with Christmas yesterday. Tomorrow I hope to start putting away Halloween decorations and decorating with fall/Thanksgiving things instead.

Nbld: But for now, let's get onto the Review Corner! Thank you to Promocat for reviewing! Candy for you!

Promocat: Seimei thinks he knows everything and has everything planned out to a T, but he doesn't. things will come and bite him in the backside eventually. Most likely courtesy of Ritsuka himself. Seimei's probably gotten bored with Septimal Moon and all that by this point, since he's been at it so long. Without Ritsuka, he can't progress, and Ritsuka won't help him. The irony.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Hostile, and a few other OCs. Everything canon to Loveless belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off writing this.

Dedication: Today, we update with a heavy heart. Another reason I couldn't post yesterday wasn't just that I was sick and Urgent care took like four hours to get through (just a virus, I'm fine). Unfortunately, we had to put my eldest dog, Missy, to sleep. She was starting to have seizures (vet said since she has no history, its likely she had a brain tumor that hadn't been detected because seizures are normally the first sign) and just wasn't doing good starting the day before Halloween and ending tomorrow. Her glucose was super low, and she wasn't responding to any of the treatment. Though it hurt, I didn't want her to suffer by making her live out the rest of her days that way. My son and other dog keep looking for her, Luke keeps asking for her. We bury her tomorrow. RIP Missy. There will never be another doggy like you. You were the kindest, sweetest, gentlest puppy ever. Except when your sister tried to hump you. Then you weren't having any of it. I miss you already, Missy. I'm glad they let me be there with you in your last moments. I'd hate myself if I let you die alone, at least you're with my parents and Rosie (a dog we had to put to sleep a couple years ago) now. I love you, Missy. Until we meet again. /3

Dedication 2: I found out yesterday when I messaged my cousin to let her know about Missy that her step-mother, Cathy, passed away from throat cancer Halloween night. I didn't know her well, but she babysat for me a few times and had me over for family gathering when I'm not even blood related to any of them (my cousin is the niece of my aunt I lived with growing up, who wasn't my biological aunt, but my mom's ex/girlfriend). She and my cousin were so close that my cousin called her mom instead of her biological mother. I'm sure it's hard on her and her brother and all the kids, too. You were a great woman, Cathy. RIP. Say hello to the rest of the family for me /3

000

 __It took about half an hour after the last call from the last call from Septimal Moon members for the entire group to reach the library. Nana was still missing when Kunugi and Mirai arrived and found Ritsuka and the others gathered around some records on a table near the center of the library.

"Odd to see you in person for once, Rit-chan." Kunugi greeted.

The neko's ears pressed flat against his head. "I could say the same about you, you know." He informed.

"True, you could." Kunugi smirked.

"Enough games." Mikado scolded the two. "Any word on where Nana is?"

A door creaked somewhere, and Nana emerged from the floor, typing on her laptop with one hand and holding onto it with the others.

"I'm here." She announced.

"What an unorthodox entry…" Mikado muttered.

Nana flushed. "Sorry, I had to check something. Quickest route here, anyway."

"That was quick?" Nagisa looked at her watch. "Took you a little over an hour to get here…"

"I had a few things to check out on the way, for my own piece of mind."

"Your nightmare's still bothering you, hm?" Ritsu wondered, flipping through some more entries in the book in front of him.

"Hm." Nana didn't confirm nor deny it. "You've gathered us all here for a reason, Ritsu. What is it?"

"We all had nightmares last night that had lasting effects in the morning." Ritsu informed, looking up from the book to address the group like the leader he was supposed to be.

Ritsuka felt slightly awed by the fact the entirety of Septimal Moon was together for the first time since he was unofficially _inducted_ a month or so ago. Minus Soubi, that was. Not that Tokino or Mirai counted since they were Fighters, and neither would Soubi, but he was the only Fighter not present. The elder members' Fighters were all deceased for one reason or another. Mirai was the only one from their group that had survived, even considering that Ritsu's Fighter had survived the battles years ago but died in a car accident when Soubi was just a child. Knowing that the others were suffering from the same issue he was, he felt like he was part of the group for the first time. He didn't come to most meetings because of the distance but did sometimes participate via call or Skype message. No one mentioned how his absences often coincided with Kunugi's.

"And you think it's connected?" Nagisa wondered.

Ritsu nodded. "It's too coincidental to not be connected in some way or form, even if it's only slight."

"On the phone, you said you didn't think Ritsuka was affected." Kunugi stated.

"I thought it was something in the air. Maybe something from the chemical labs." Nana stated. "But you and Mirai don't live on campus like the rest of us, so I don't know how you would have been effected if that were true."

"I had a nightmare." Ritsuka announced.

They all turned to stare at him.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"You didn't ask me."

Kunugi chuckled while Mirai giggled. Mikado shook her head at the snickering trio.

"How mature of you all." She stated. "I expect it out of Aoyagi, but you two should know better at your age."

"Hey!" Ritsuka protested, face flushing. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're youngest." Nagisa pointed out, poking Ritsuka on the nose.

Ritsuka batted her hand away. It wasn't funny when Yoji tried to do that either.

" _Any_ way." Ritsu sighed in exacerbation. His colleagues-friends?-were so immature, it was pathetic. "So that makes all of us having a nightmare. Something has obvious hit us that's not just _in the air_."

"Unless it's something that affected us all when we were here together." Mikado pointed out.

"That's pretty rare." Ritsuka piped up, scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, I can't be here because of school."

"And me because of work." Kunugi added.

"Don't lie, you're just avoiding us." Nagisa teased.

"Damn, she's seen right through me. Whatever shall I do, Rai?" Asitai threw himself over his fiancé's shoulder.

Mirai didn't seem to know how to reply with the others around, whether he was supposed to be formal because he was a Fighter or informal because he was a friend.

"The task at hand." Ritsu interrupted the childish act. "It seemed a little too convenient for me. I've been looking into former Units from the school that may have been able to cast such a spell, but…"

"Nightmare." Mikado interrupted.

"Yes, that's what we're discussing; very good." Nagisa rolled her eyes.

"No, that's their name." Mikado rolled her golden irises. "Tokino and I were tasked with studying this Unit a few years back. Regrettably, we were unable to track them down."

"Why were you studying them?" Ritsuka wondered, ears twitching.

"It was suspected that a few of their spells were used in your brother's previous… _operations_ as seat Six." Mikado said. "A few Unit suicides were suspicious, which got our attention in the first place. Every one of them had at least one form of connection with Seimei. It was investigating this that started rousing our suspicions about your brother. The deaths stopped after five or six, when Seimei realized I was searching; no doubt. As a member of Septimal Moon, he had access to all our computer and paper files. Clearly, that has proven to stab us in the back a few times…"

"It's not a system we can afford to screw around with." Ritsu shook his head. "A system of checks and balances."

"I found a few records to be fudged by Seimei upon original entry or overridden and changed to falsify information otherwise after he'd already submitted it." Nana adjusted her glasses.

"Probably Nisei…Soubi's not a computer person…"

"He's more of a brooding artist type, if I had to guess, myself." Kunugi tapped a finger to his lips.

"Once again, we're getting off topic." Ritsu objected.

"It feels like that happens a lot at these meetings…" Ritsuka muttered, looking away when Ritsu glared at him.

"He isn't wrong." Nagisa pointed out.

"Most of the derailments are by you two, so you would know, Nagisa." Asitai nodded between her and Ritsu.

" _Listen_ , you…"

" _Enough_." Ritsu rubbed his temples. "Nana, look up the Unit Nightmare, would you? It will take me forever by hand."

"Hai."

"What's the last known activity of the Unit?"

"Nothing since they stopped years ago." Mikado shrugged one shoulder. "I had thought one of their schemes had finally caught up to them, or Seimei had tied up a few lose ends."

"What _do_ we know of them?"

"One of each gender, Fighter is likely the female. I've never seen them in action, and everything they do is agreed on, not an order and a follow like a typical Unit." Mikado stated. "I'd interacted with them once before everything started happening. They are almost robotic in tone; everything about them feels perfectly choreographed down to the last syllable, last hair on their heads. Sometimes they speak in synch, as well. If you've ever seen _The Shining_ , you've basically seen them."

"They make Yoji and Natsuo sound tame." Ritsuka offered, prompting laughter.

Nagisa's cheeks huffed out, but it looked like she was just trying not to laugh and wasn't really mad at the young neko.

"So, they're creepy as hell, we don't know who's in charge, they may have worked for Seimei at one point, and are now off the grid." Asitai ticked off facts on his fingers. "Not much information. What would make them suddenly target Septimal Moon like this?"

"Someone asked them to do it." Tokino spoke up finally. "It's believed they do work underground and form contracts with people, like assassins, often for money. We'd seen some financial activity on Seimei's end that was a cause for concern."

"All conjecture, nothing we have proof of yet." Mikado argued. "It's a valid point, Tokino, but without facts, we're grasping for clues in the dark."

He blushed. "yes, my Queen." He bowed his head as if he had been reprimanded.

"But…let's say for now that it _is_ true…" Ritsuka started.

"As I said, Aoyagi, its _hypothesis_. Talking about the what if's is a waste of time." Mikado objected.

"Just hear me out." Ritsuka replied. "All scientific truths are formed by testing hypothesis, right?"

Nagisa nodded. "That's right." As resident scientist, she was probably best to ask.

"I suppose…go on."

Ritsuka didn't really like how it felt like she was giving him permission to help, but he bit back the annoyance to focus on the end goal.

"Suppose they did do this, and it _is_ because they were hired…by who…? And why all of us? Someone with a grudge."

"Your brother is the first on the list of suspects, as always." Nagisa offered.

Ritsuka nodded. "I wouldn't put it past my brother to do something like this. But I'm Septimal Moon. He wouldn't hurt me…"

"Does he know you're in this?" Mikado cocked an eyebrow.

"I'd have to think he knew somehow. I mean, he has Akame spying on me. Sometimes I can feel him nearby, other times I see him or found spy cameras in my old house." He was thrown out by his mother a year before and now lived with Soubi's best friend Kio and his fiancé, Akira. "He's not an idiot. If he hasn't found out by now, I'd be surprised." He folded his arms over his chest. "I wouldn't necessarily rule him out, but it's something to think about. Who else out there hates Septimal Moon enough to hurt us like this?"

Silence reigned between the group as they considered Ritsuka's words.

"I've got it." Nana informed. "There's no more information than what Gomon-chan already told us. They've been inactive since the early 2000's, around the time Seimei died. If they had been under his employ, he may have cast them aside, and they went under someone else until he died."

"Seimei's not above throwing others under the bus to save himself." Mikado said. "Even in my nightmare, that was a common factor concerning him and Akame. He'll throw Akame to the wolves if it means he gets to survive. I figure it would be the same for Agatsuma, but he wasn't featured."

"He was in mine." Ritsuka piped up.

"And mine." Ritsu cleared his throat.

The others just stared until Kunugi broke into a small smile and laughed awkwardly.

"You two are more alike than you care to admit." He informed.

"Who was the focus of yours, then…?" Ritsu wondered.

"Well…er…Mirai, honestly…" Kunugi cleared his throat. "Mikado? Nagisa?"

"My sister…" Nagisa fiddled with the hem of her dress awkwardly, as if just saying that was bringing up flashbacks.

"Beloved, naturally." Mikado shrugged one shoulder.

"The school." Nana added in.

"The things we care most about." Ritsuka stated. "I mean, Nagisa-sensei and her sister and Tai and Rai makes sense. So, does Seven and school, when you think about it. And…me with Soubi…"

Ritsu didn't need to hear Ritsuka say it to know that the boy was thinking about his dream as well.

"He killed me." Ritsu said finally. "Seimei made an appearance; it was an order. Of course, Soubi-kun defied it and put me into a coma in the end instead…"

"My mother killed me." Ritsuka informed. "Soubi made everyone forget and then killed himself…"

"Seimei's crew attacked the school, faked some security footage and voices using a Unit called Voiceless and then killed me…"

"The day my sister drowned…I was there this time, and she said horrible things about me…I…I couldn't save her…" Nagisa looked away, biting her lip as if to hide her shame.

"A nurse blabbed about Mirai to his parents and they fought with me against a judge to take him off life support…the dream ended before I knew whether or not he woke up." Asitai sunk into his Fighter's arms as Mirai hugged him tightly.

"We were going to finally execute Beloved…I got to say to him everything I ever wanted to say, got to cut him deep…" Mikado looked to Ritsuka. "Then you and Agatsuma showed up and stopped us…needless to say…"

"Is…that why you asked me what I did? If I'd ever stop you from executing my brother."

She looked away, not wanting to answer the obvious question.

"Seems Nightmare decided to feed off our worst fears." Nana tapped her finger on her chin. "Used the people closest to us to tap into our deepest fears and use them against us. It sounds like something an ally of Seimei would do, honestly."

"If that's what Seimei can get done from a distance…" Ritsuka spoke slowly. "Then nowhere we go is safe…"

The others exchanged looks. Ritsuka had a point. If Seimei could hurt them all at once like this, from a distance and without any of them knowing they'd been cursed, then there was nowhere any of them could hide from Beloved's wrath. In the end, they were more vulnerable to Seimei then he ever would be to them.

000

Seimei angrily drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. Nisei was out with Mimuro doing god knows what, Chouma had gone out shopping on her own, and Yurio had some family reunion he had dragged Hideo too, so he could pretend to have a normal life. He'd left with short hair, much to Seimei's surprise. He'd always known the Fighter to have long, ivory-pink hair, not short pink hair like Ritsuka's one little friend.

The phone clicked.

"Nightmare." The woman's monotone voice greeted when she answered finally.

"It's Beloved." Seimei responded.

"Oh…we already completed the spell…did he forget to tell you…?"

"No. I know you did."

"Then why the call? No refunds."

"Chouma and I were affected as well." Seimei snarled. "Why. We're not Septimal Moon."

"…Third's seat in Septimal Moon has not been claimed by a successor…neither has yours…"

"We're still considered Septimal moon until our seats are reclaimed, even though they are vacant…you have got to be kidding me."

"Sorry." She didn't sound it.

"Then…my brother hasn't taken my seat…"

"Yet."

"Yet?"

"Our Nightmares, Seimei, are not random happenstance." The boy interrupted the conversation. "They take your worst fears and bring them to life. They show you a glimpse of what has been or what will be, what could be…"

"So, anything I saw could be falsified information based on my own _fears_ …and anything could be what is going to happen…there's no way of knowing which."

"We're not fortune tellers, Beloved." They spoke as one. "You decide your own future, in the end."

"Hm…"

"Is that all you have to complain about?" The boy asked.

"We have other clients to tend to." The girl added.

"Are we through here?"

"We are…"

They hung up before he could say anything more. Seimei resisted the urge to throw the phone across the room. How dare they use loopholes to affect his group when he'd _specifically_ asked for current Septimal Moon members to be affected? And to leave him hanging with that information was like a new form of torture. He _had_ to know if Ritsuka would become a part of Septimal Moon or not. His innocent little brother didn't need to be mixed up in this nonsense.

The front door opened and closed. He heard shoes getting kicked off into the corner and smirked. Just who he was waiting for. Soubi appeared around the corner, eyes downcast and hair obscuring his face.

"Seimei…I'm back." He stood up straight to look his master in the eyes. "I'm sorry for the delay, I…"

"Can it." Seimei held up a hand. "I need to know what you know."

"What I know?"

"Of my brother…do you know anything?"

"You have ordered me to not contact Aoyagi Ritsuka under any circumstances." Soubi answered. "I do not have any information regarding him for you, because I am not allowed to communicate with him."

"A simple _no_ would have sufficed." Seimei stood. "What are you hiding, Soubi?"

"I'm not hiding anything, Seimei. I could not lie to you…"

Seimei stalked closer. "What of those treacherous bastards that make up Septimal Moon?" He wondered. "You and Ritsu were close growing up, if I recall."

"I hate Minami…" Soubi answered. "I would rather cut off my own tongue then speak with him ever again."

"I see…" Seimei paused. "So, you saw no one in Gora, then?"

"Just a few people at the graveyard, but no one that wasn't a Civilian." Soubi shook his head.

"Hm…" Seimei stared slightly up at the blonde, who held his head high to try and show that he wasn't going to balk and admit to lying. "I suppose that's the most I'll get from you." He stated. "I need to know about Ritsuka…"

"What do you need to know that Nisei and Faceless have not been able to obtain?"

"His position regarding Septimal Moon."

"Before I left with you, he was adamant about never becoming one of them. He considers them as much of an enemy as you do." Soubi shook his head. "To him, they took away his Seimei. He'll never forgive them for that."

"Who knows if that's changed. They're cunning, they make you believe things you probably didn't want to believe in the first place…"

"I believe Ritsuka is too strong willed to fall for those kinds of games."

"What of Loveless?"

"I…don't think I understand?" Soubi cocked an eyebrow. "Loveless is Ritsuka…?"

"I…need to have Faceless do some more digging at Omori for that one…" Seimei thought to himself as he backed off the blond and began to pace. "Which parts were _will_ be…which were _could_ be…was any of it…? Perhaps they were just trying to get into my head…no, no one is foolish enough to mess with me like that…"

Soubi just stared, wondering if his master was falling further into insanity than he had already fallen. A slow, lazy smile crossed Seimei's features.

"I think we need to have a chat with Ritsu…"

"We?"

Seimei nodded. "Yes…that could work…" He paused. "Soubi, I want to see Minami. I need to keep him away from my brother. Maybe he'll let something slip if I try…and Soubi…?"

"Hai?"

"This is an order."

"Hai, Seimei?" He expected nothing less.

"We are going to go and see Minami…if he doesn't agree to leave my brother alone…" When he looked up at Soubi, the dark, murderous look in his eyes made the blonde's skin crawl and a visible shiver creep up his spine. "I order you to kill him."


End file.
